


Angels

by Hangmans_Radio



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: M/M, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-08
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-02-20 09:44:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 66,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2424128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hangmans_Radio/pseuds/Hangmans_Radio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Incubus.<br/>We rejoin Frank and Gerard six months after their little drama with Ava, but if Frank was hoping for a normal quiet life, he shouldn't have paired himself with a demon. This time we meet the other side of the coin, the angels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Think bike

**Author's Note:**

> Whilst I know where this story is going, as ever I don't know enough details to know how graphic certain sex/violence is going to be so warnings will probably appear on separate chapters where appropriate rather than on the story as a whole.  
> I'll also just warn (as ever) that updates will be slow because of my limited time right now. I just really wanted to write this and I really hope you guys will enjoy it too, just shout at me when I take too long to update...  
> xo

The first day they met, he had crashed into a car.

Frank had been trusted with the keys to the garage and was the first to arrive that morning. He was planning to get started on a Rolls Royce that had been brought in the day before; it was rare that a car so beautiful and expensive found its way into their small town garage and so Frank couldn’t wait to get working on it. 

It had been six months since he had started work again and Daryl finally trusted him enough to let him alone in the building. It was still the first time he had ever given Frank the keys though, and so the young mechanic was determined to prove how trust worthy he really was and make sure he didn’t mess a single thing up. He was simply going to walk in, start working on the Rolls and not move or touch anything he didn’t need.

Of course though, things were never so simple when it came to Frank.

Maybe it was because he was in a relationship with a demon… Maybe it was because he had been tortured by one… Or maybe he was simply a magnet for bad news, but Frank always just seemed to attract danger to himself. 

In the six months that had passed since he had been carried from Ava’s home he had been making a good recovery. He was still seeing his therapist, but now only once a month, and the patches of skin where his tattoos had been removed were now tough, shiny scars. He suffered from nightmares rarely, and he and Gerard were happy despite how Frank never believed they’d end up as a real, adult couple. They were even living together, sharing bills and everything… it was almost human.

Frank should have known it couldn’t last. 

When he had walked into the garage that morning, Frank knew he had only half an hour before Daryl would arrive to start his day, and then another half an hour after that before the other mechanics would arrive. On average they didn’t see any customers until the afternoon, not unless they had told someone specifically to come in; but that morning was set to be a quiet one, they had no one due to come to the garage at all that day and it was early enough on a Monday morning that most people would be too busy driving to work to worry about bringing their cars in until much later.

Frank didn’t expect for anything to disturb his plans of setting straight into his work on the Rolls, he certainly never imagined that anything dramatic or out of the ordinary would happen.

Only ten minutes after unlocking all the doors, Frank had been stood in the garage stirring sugar into a cup of coffee and idly watching the traffic go by. The garage itself had a large parking lot separating it from the road, and at that hour it had only Frank’s Chevelle parked in it.   
It was a pleasant, autumn morning, and Frank was relishing in the sweet, calm normality of it all. The sun was bright, bouncing off the car windows as they went past with blinding flashes. There was a soft, cooling breeze rustling the red and gold leaves on the one tree across the street, and Frank felt almost at peace…

_VROOOOOOOOOOO-EEEEEEEEEEE-TSSSCCHHHH!_

Frank jumped so violently that his coffee cup fell from his hands and broke into pieces on the hard concrete floor. For a moment he felt rooted to the spot, but after a second that dragged like eternity Frank snapped out of his shock and started to run out of the garage and into the parking lot.

“Fuck! Jesus, shit! HEY! HEY COME BACK! HEY YOU, ASSHOLE! COME BACK! _NOOO!_ ” Frank ran past the biker at first, running out into the road but the car that caused the collision was speeding away with clear intention that it wasn’t going to stop. Frank didn’t even think to take down the registration number until the car had disappeared around the corner, leaving just him and the motorbike driver who was bleeding into the asphalt.

“Oh God.” Frank moaned, running both hands through his hair. He felt choked up and for a moment struggled to breathe as he began to panic. He tried shouting for someone to call an ambulance before he realised he was alone. There were suddenly no more cars around, and not a single person could be seen. 

“Shit… Shit…” Frank turned and ran back to the garage parking lot, skidding to the ground beside the motorcycle which had been sent flying across the road and into the parking lot when the car had hit it side on. The bike had landed on top of the rider, crushing both of his legs. A pool of blood was already spreading from beneath the rider, and Frank knew instantly that the man wasn’t going to live. 

“No… No, no, no…” Frank gripped the handlebars and seat of the bike and heaved with all of his strength. He knew nothing of first aid, and didn’t even think that he should leave the bike where it was. He knew he needed to call an ambulance, but was desperate to see if the rider was alive or not first. 

With panic and adrenaline running through his system Frank was able to move the bike and drop it a few feet away from the rider. He dropped down beside the rider and noticed for the first time that most of the blood was pumping from a wound in the man’s stomach. 

Frank’s hands were trembling as he automatically leant forward and applied as much pressure as he could to the gash that was leaking blood through the leather jacket. He leant all of his weight onto his hands, blood gushing through his fingers. The rider moaned in pain as Frank pressed against his stomach, almost giving the mechanic a heart attack. 

“Oh my God, hey, hey are you alive?” Frank gasped, looking down to assess the damage to the rider’s legs but it was difficult with the leather trousers. They could be crushed to a pulp and Frank would be unable to tell, the only sign there was any damage was the small amount of blood leaking out from the bottom of the trousers. 

“Can you talk to me? Let me know you can hear me.” Frank pleaded, taking a deep breath and forcing himself to calm down. He looked around frantically for anyone who might be able to call for an ambulance, too afraid to lift either of his hands in order to find his phone in his pocket. 

“Can you hear me?” Frank repeated, louder this time. The rider was still wearing his helmet, but Frank couldn’t move his hands in order to remove it. “Hey… Hey! Can you hear me! HELLO?” Frank shouted this time, but the rider only continued to moan in pain. 

Frank growled and pressed harder against the man’s stomach, trying to stem the bleeding. The pool of blood that was spreading from beneath him was growing larger and larger, staining Frank’s jeans where he was kneeling on the floor. 

“Oh God… Don’t die. Please don’t die… Don’t die, don’t die, don’t die.” Frank whispered over and over again, mostly to himself. He looked around again, but still he could see no one. He had no idea how long he had left until Daryl showed up at the garage, but he was hoping not soon. Even though he desperately needed someone to call an ambulance for him, he didn’t want Daryl to see this. Frank knew it wasn’t his fault, but he still felt afraid that the blame would be on him if Daryl saw. 

“Come on man… Come on! Please, please you can’t do this to me.” Frank whimpered, his hands slippery with blood. He started to move one away, trying to cover all of the wound with one hand so that he could call an ambulance. As he did so the rider started to move too, his hands coming up to slowly grip at the clip of his helmet. 

“Oh my G– Hey, hey man are you okay? Can you hear me?” Frank gasped, watching with wide, horrified eyes as the rider started to sit up at the same time. “Wait, wait stay still! Man, you shouldn’t move you, you-”

Frank trailed off, moving his hands away as the rider sat up fully and pulled his helmet away. A mass of black curls fell from the helmet and Frank shot backwards in horror, almost about to cry out before he realised he wasn’t looking at Eicca at all, just a different man with black curls. 

“Fuck.” Frank breathed, his heart hammering erratically in his chest. He stared at the handsome face of the rider, unable to look away for what felt like forever. It had been months since he had last hallucinated, and even though it had only been for a second, the flash of Eicca’s face had frightened him. 

“You… You saved me…” The rider breathed, panting softly as if he had just been sprinting. 

For a moment Frank couldn’t take in what he had said, still in shock. He continued to stare at the rider, before slowly… slowly, he realised that the man had been on the brink of death, and should be still. 

“I… I, no I… I didn’t save you, I was-” Frank looked down and stopped talking, not sure if he could trust what he was seeing. The rider was no longer gushing blood like he had been, although he was still sitting in the substance. It looked like he had lost so much blood that he should be dead, or at least passed out, but he was climbing to his feet as if nothing was wrong. 

“Wait! Hold on, your legs!” Frank jumped up on instinct, joining the man on his feet. The rider cocked his head at Frank and smiled weakly, looking at Frank as if he was crazy. His legs were perfectly fine it would seem, taking his weight without struggle. 

“But you… You were hit by that car, you were really hurt, I need to call an ambulance.” Frank whimpered, mostly speaking to himself. 

“I don’t think I need an ambulance.” The rider said gently, still looking at Frank with a puzzled expression. “But I do feel a little faint… If I could perhaps just have a strong drink, and then I’ll be on my way…” He suggested, talking to Frank calmly, as if _he_ was the one who was hurt. 

“A… A strong drink…”

“Tea will be fine. But with plenty of sugar.” The rider suggested, and Frank could hear that he was indeed weak. He sounded exhausted, and looked pale, but although his leathers were torn where he had been wounded in the stomach, blood was no longer coming through. 

“Sure… Sure, tea. Yeah.” Frank still felt bewildered and led the rider into the garage on autopilot. He was wondering if he was hallucinating, and what he should do if he was. He had never hallucinated anything so vivid for such a long amount of time, not as complex as this. Eicca would linger for days but always just sat in the same spot in the same position. This rider was a complete stranger, walking and talking and as solid as everything else around them. 

Frank struggled to keep calm, trying to ignore his worries that he was hallucinating and just act as he would if he was certain it was all real. But how could it be? The motorbike rider should be dead, not trekking bloody boot prints through the garage and into Daryl’s office where Frank had him sit down. 

“Thank you…” The rider sighed as he sank into the seat, relaxing into it and closing his eyes for a moment. “I’m lucky you were around, I might have been killed otherwise.” 

“What do you mean?” Frank scoffed, shaking his head and making a strong tea for himself as well. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You helped me.” The rider shrugged, as if it was obvious how what Frank had done had saved him. “It’s okay, I know what you are. I’m the same.” The rider opened his eyes and smiled warmly at Frank, but the mechanic just felt even more confused. 

“Sorry… I… I don’t know what you mean.” 

The rider looked at Frank in confusion for a moment, seeming to be trying to figure out if he was lying or crazy or both… Frank blushed deeply, hating to feel like he was being scrutinized and he turned away. 

The rider didn’t say anything else the whole time Frank was making the tea and Frank couldn’t bring himself to turn around and face him. He stirred several heaped spoonfuls of sugar into each of the mugs before turning at last and handing one to the rider who thanked him softly. 

“You’re a mechanic?” He asked conversationally, his face softer and already more full of colour than it had been just five minutes before. He seemed to have made his mind up about something and was no longer looking at Frank as if he were some kind of freak.

“Uh, yeah.” Frank was still deeply confused about all that was happening, but the rider seemed perfectly calm. 

“Know anything about bikes?” The rider asked, smiling as Frank handed him the first aid kit that was kept in the office. “I don’t think mine will even start after that crash, you think you guys could fix it for me?” He asked politely, opening the first aid kit and taking out some antiseptic wipes.

“I dunno I… I guess we could look at it for you.” Frank shrugged, staring with wide eyes as the rider started to wipe the blood from his stomach. He hissed in pain, but as the blood was wiped away Frank could see the wound to his stomach was nothing but a small graze. 

“I don’t understand.” Frank whispered, shaking his head slowly. “You lost so much blood…”

“Well, these things often look worse than they are.” The rider shrugged, smiling kindly at Frank as he glanced up at him. “I’m fine, but I’ll see a doctor if it will make you feel better.” 

“That’s up to you.” Frank shrugged, turning round to look out the office window at the parking lot and feeling sick again at the sight of all the blood. “But I just… Just _look_ out there, there’s so much blood! How can you be alive!?” 

“Calm down.” The rider spoke gently, holding a hand up to console Frank. “Drink your tea and sit down, you look shaken. You need to calm down.” 

“Calm down? Are you serious!?” Frank turned back round to glare at the rider, the man looking as healthy and calm as any customer. If it wasn’t for the blood all over the floor Frank wouldn’t believe the man had just been in a crash. 

“I can’t calm down! I –” Frank stopped short, staring at the clock on the wall above the riders head. He had just ten minutes before Daryl was due to arrive, and there was a small lake of blood right out the front of the garage. “Shit! I have to clean up!”

The rider watched with a stunned gaze as Frank slammed his mug down and suddenly ran out of the office. He returned soon after with a mop and bucket and started with cleaning the bloody boot prints from off the office floor. 

“Really, I think you need to sit down Mr…” The rider trailed off, clearly waiting for a name but Frank was too busy to worry about giving him one. “I think you might be having a panic attack, you need to sit down.” The rider continued, sterner this time but Frank ignored him and continued to clean.

“I’m not having a panic attack.” He snapped as he mopped up all the blood. “I’ve had enough panic attacks in my life to know if I’m having one or not, and I don’t need to sit down, I need to clean this shit up.”   
The rider didn’t say anything to that though he continued to watch Frank with a concerned gaze. He was gently cleaning all of the blood away from his own skin, revealing the kind of wounds one might expect if they had tumbled from a push bike as a child. He wasn’t pale anymore either, he looked perfectly fine. 

Frank though felt far from fine. His heart was still hammering erratically and he was having to use all of the breathing exercises his therapist had taught him to stop himself from really going into a panic attack. He wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating or not, or whether he wanted to be. It would make sense if it was all just his own imagination, but it all felt so real… but how could it be?

Frank moved backwards out of the office with his mop and bucket, working quickly to get up all of the bloody prints from inside the building and then trailing out into the parking lot. He started to chuck the water out of the bucket and over the blood, washing it away towards the drain at the side of the road in a red stream.

The first bucket of water was not enough to get rid of all of the blood. Neither was the second bucket; nor the third. The red stain on the ground refused to be lifted easily so in the fourth bucket Frank added some cleaning agents from the cupboard in the garage. The cleaning products they owned were mostly all for cars, so Frank just threw in a little bit of everything in the hope that one of them would do the trick. 

Frank was just rushing back outside with the bucket when a black car pulled up into the parking lot. Frank’s stomach lurched at the sight of it, but he tried to appear calm and casual as he went back to trying to wash away the blood stain. 

The black car pulled into the space besides Frank’s Chevelle and the engine was switched off. A second later Daryl appeared, locking the car quickly before walking over to Frank with a frown on his face. 

“What’s gone on here?” He asked, looking from the red stain to the crashed bike and back again. “Christ, has there been an accident?” He gasped, rushing to Frank’s side and watching as the last of the water was thrown from the bucket and ran towards the drain. 

“What’s happened?” Daryl asked again, staring at the ground rather than at Frank. 

“A guy crashed his bike.” Frank tried to sound nonchalant, but was certain he sounded as guilty as he looked. “He’s okay though, he’s in the office.”

“Okay? Jesus Christ, is this _blood?_ How can the guy be okay? Is there an ambulance on the way?” 

“Oh there’s no need for that.” Both Frank and Daryl suddenly turned, both of them staring with wide eyes as the rider appeared from inside the garage. He was smiling calmly at both of them, striding towards them and leaving a trek of boot prints behind him, much to Frank’s horror. 

“I feel fine.” The rider smiled, offering a gloved hand to Daryl who shook it with a suspicious glare. “I’m sorry to have caused so much trouble for you both.”

“I’m confused, is this blood all yours?” Daryl demanded, indicating the stain on the ground. “A man who’s lost that much blood shouldn’t be able to walk.”

“The water has mixed with it to make it look like more than there was.” The rider shrugged, causing Frank to blush. He knew it was a lie, but didn’t dare say so. “I’ve only been grazed, see?” The rider indicated the tear in his jacket and the small wound visible through it. “I bleed easily. I’m sorry if I frightened you.” The rider looked at Frank then, his eyes gentle and concerned. “But I really am fine…”

“I wasn’t frightened.” Frank snapped instinctively, his cheeks bright red. 

“So that’s your bike there?” Daryl asked, still glaring at the rider. He jabbed a finger at the broken machine and the rider sighed, nodding. 

“I’m afraid so. I spoke to your colleague here about perhaps having it fixed, if you could?” 

“Well we don’t specialise in bikes.” Daryl looked over at the vehicle and considered for a moment. “Still… We could take a look at it for you.” He shrugged, looking at the rider again, his eyes still full of suspicion. 

“Thank you. I’ll leave my number with you and you can give me a call when it’s ready to collect?” The rider confirmed, going with Daryl back into the garage to sort his details. 

Frank stayed in the parking lot, his mind reeling. He still couldn’t believe what he had been witness too and he felt uneasy. He tried to push it out of his mind and accept that everything was fine, but it all felt wrong. He couldn’t understand how the rider could be alive, let alone unhurt. He tried to make sense of it all as he used a brush to sweep away the blood and water into the drain, but nothing would add up. 

When the rider and Daryl appeared again Frank had finally cleaned up all the blood other than the boot prints from the rider, though he had now trod the blood off his boots completely.

Frank walked into the building and cleaned up the last of the blood as Daryl shook the riders hand outside and talked to him for a few minutes. Frank didn’t know nor care what they were talking about, lost in his own mind. 

He put the mop and bucket away once he had finished cleaning and came face to face with Daryl as he left the cleaning cupboard. 

“Oh, hey Daryl.” He blushed as he jumped in surprise, clearly on edge. Daryl was looking at him with a familiar concerned look which just made Frank feel even worse. “Everything okay?”

“I was just about to ask you the same thing.” Daryl shrugged, following Frank back to the Rolls he had been planning to work on. “The bike guy says that you seemed to be a bit panicked after everything. You feel alright?” 

“I’m fine.” Frank lied, shrugging and trying to think of what he needed to work on the car but it was difficult to concentrate on that with Daryl talking to him. 

“You sure? You do look a little tense…” Daryl waited a moment before gently turning Frank round to face him when the mechanic refused to meet his gaze. “You can take the day off if you need to.” 

“I’m fine.” Frank repeated, firmer this time and he gently pulled away from Daryl’s hold. “You saw the guy, there was nothing wrong with him. There’s no reason for me to not be okay.” Frank tried to sound full of conviction but it was clear just from his voice that he really did feel shaken after what had happened, even if Daryl may not realise why. 

“Well… There was a lot of blood.” Daryl shrugged, smiling gently at Frank. “Look, if you want to stay its fine, I’m just saying if you think you need a day to clear your head after this then that’s fine too.”

“Why? Because I’m the crazy one who can’t handle anything?” Frank suddenly snapped, glaring at Daryl fiercely.

Daryl rose his eyebrows but didn’t argue, simply held his hands up as a sign of peace. Frank could be sensitive over his PTSD and therapy and Daryl could understand that perfectly. He still didn’t know what had happened to Frank to make him such a nervous wreck, but he did know he needed to look out for him. 

“I think taking the day would be a good idea Frank. Go and spend it with your partner.” Daryl suggested, also knowing that Frank was in a happy relationship with Gerard and hoping that mentioning him would persuade Frank to leave work for the day.

Frank stared at Daryl for a long moment, considering arguing some more but eventually he sighed and nodded, bowing his head as he apologised. 

“Alright… I’ll go home. If you… If you’re sure it’s okay.” 

“Of course it is.” Daryl smiled, squeezing Frank’s shoulder in a fatherly fashion. “Just help me move this bike and then you can go.” 

 

Gerard sank down next to Frank on the bed and handed him a mug of coffee. He had offered to pour some whisky into it as well but Frank had refused; Gerard had considered doing it anyway, Frank certainly looked like he needed it, but the human would only get pissed off when he tasted it and Gerard didn’t want to upset him. 

Frank thanked the demon softly and sipped his coffee delicately, his eyes staring down at the bed sheets. It was clear he was deep in thought, but he still sank gratefully against Gerard when the older man slid his arm around him and pulled him into a gentle embrace.

Six months into their relationship and Gerard thought he was getting pretty good at the whole emotions thing. He was almost like any other empathetic, understanding human. At first that had disgusted him, but now he liked it. He was glad to be like a human; glad that it meant he got to be with Frank like a real couple. He actually enjoyed telling people he was in love now, it was like Frank had subdued the monster inside him and revealed something softer… something deeper within him. 

“Hey…” Gerard whispered, gently rubbing Frank’s arm to get his attention. “I can see that you’re worrying and you need to stop it.”

“How can I?” Frank sighed, bowing his head against Gerard’s shoulder for a moment. “There was so much blood Gee… _So_ much blood. It just doesn’t make sense.” Frank looked upwards at Gerard then, his eyes begging for some sort of explanation but it was clear that if there was any supernatural explanation for what had happened then Gerard was unaware of it. 

“Frankie, it was probably just like the rider said – looked worse than it was. He said he bled easily right?”

“Yeah but no one bleeds _that_ easily.” Frank insisted. 

“I dunno Frank…” Gerard sighed, shrugging. “I’ve been alive for three centuries and I’ve never seen or heard of anyone healing themselves. That’s superhero kind of stuff, it’s not real. Are you sure you weren’t just… ya know… made it seem worse in your own head?” Gerard spoke gently, not wanting to upset or anger Frank by suggesting it was his imagination, but he had to ask.

To Gerard’s surprise Frank blushed and sighed, his face going guilty as much as he tried to hide it. 

“Well I… I did think he was Eicca at first.” He admitted shamefully, hating to admit to hallucinating even though it was only for a second. He had been doing so well, he had even dared to believe that his PTSD was gone despite his therapist warning him it was never so easy to overcome such a condition. Frank had been doing amazingly… but it was still only six months… 

“You saw Eicca?” Gerard rose his eyebrows in surprise and grew tense for a moment. He hated to hear about the hallucinations as much as Frank hated experiencing them. Eicca haunted both of them, and though that helped Frank sometimes, it also made things more difficult. 

“It was only for a second.” Frank sighed, bowing his head again. “The biker guy had hair like him, so when he took off his helmet I thought… Just for a second…” Frank shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, taking a long, deep breath to steady himself. 

“You were obviously on edge then.” Gerard said gently, trying not to show his own apprehension at Eicca’s name. “If Daryl was fine and so was the rider, then I really think it might just have been your… tension, that made things seem bigger for you.”

“Maybe…” Frank conceded, still blushing from embarrassment. He felt like he was insane, and he hated talking about his ‘condition’; he just wanted to be normal. Gerard seemed more normal than him and he was a demon, it just wasn’t fair.

“Maybe I’ll call Laura about it.” Frank sighed, hating to ring his therapist about anything and knowing it would mean another impromptu meeting that week but he was also determined to do everything he was supposed to get better; and Laura had made it clear dozens of times that if he ever had an ‘episode’ he was to call her immediately. 

“I think that would be a good idea.” Gerard agreed, smiling and gently tilting Frank’s face back up to his. “She can put your mind at ease better than I can.”

“Oh I don’t know about that.” Frank smiled weakly, slowly putting down his coffee cup before linking his arms around Gerard’s neck. “You can switch my mind off completely… no one else can do that.” He smirked softly, though there was a hint of hope and pleading in his eyes and Gerard understood completely that Frank needed to forget the morning. 

“It’s a hellish gift.” Gerard whispered, though he smiled with Frank as he leant down to brush a gentle kiss over his lips. “As long as you don’t forget how much I love you…” He warned, making Frank grin as their lips touched again for a second.

“I won’t.” He promised, moving slowly to sit more in Gerard’s lap. “And you don’t forget either.” 

“As if I could.” Gerard chuckled, smiling as he pulled Frank closer into a tight embrace and roll him over to lye atop him. Their lips met in a gentle kiss and Frank sighed in quiet delight. 

Even after six months Gerard could still seduce him so intensely that he forgot almost everything whenever they kissed, and right then Frank just needed to forget and lose himself in the sweet, hazy fog of lust that only his lover could provide him.


	2. Father of Israel

Gerard slid his hands down Frank’s spine, gently tracing the line down to the dip of his lower back before slipping back up, spreading water in his wake. 

The shower water sounded like rain as it pattered against the plastic shower tray, the droplets warm and comforting as they fell like kisses against the skin of both human and demon. Frank’s back was coated in tiny baubles of moisture and Gerard wiped them away with his hands as he stood behind his lover. 

Frank’s head was slightly bowed but not due to sadness. He was relaxed and content at last after a few days of feeling mostly tension. He had finally stopped worrying about the motorbike rider and had accepted, with some help from his therapist, that what had happened had not as been as bad as he had thought. It was simply a frightening accident that had sparked off his stress disorder and had become something much worse in his head. 

Even six months since his run in with Ava, Frank was still learning to live with PTSD. Gerard made things easier, but things were not going to be easy for a long time. He had to remember that, but as he got better it was all too easy to assume his disorder was gone for good. He just hoped that one day it would be.

Frank flinched slightly when Gerard’s fingertips brushed over the large expanse of healing skin on his back. The square of flesh that had been removed by Ava in her desire to rid him of his Jack o’ lantern had not entirely scarred like the rest of the missing tattoos. This wound was still healing, and could sometimes still hurt. Although the expanse was filled with dry, puckered pink flesh it wasn’t quite a scar yet, more like burnt tissue, and Frank hated it being touched most of all.

Gerard knew how much Frank disliked having his back touched, and he felt the way Frank tensed sharply when he touched it; but Gerard made a point of feeling the pink skin, wanting Frank to eventually grow accustomed to all of his scars until they stopped bothering him anymore. 

Frank’s therapist had suggested that as a couple they should involve touching the scars in intimate moments. She had told Frank that it would help him heal, not physically but mentally. He had to trust Gerard, and realise that with him he was always safe. 

Being in the shower also helped. Water was a natural remedy. The warmth of the shower and the rhythmic pounding of the droplets against his skin was soothing. 

Frank found that ever since his encounter with Ava he had come to find a new respect and love for water. He hadn’t told anyone, not even Gerard or his therapist. It seemed such a silly thing, and yet it made so much sense to him now. Water… In all its forms, was stunning and beautiful. Lakes, streams, waterfalls, rain, even just the water from the tap, all of it helped Frank feel calm and at peace. Whenever he felt stressed or uneasy he found that placing his hands under the tap and letting the water flow over them could calm him down. 

The shower too was like medicine for him. He shared showers with Gerard a lot, not for sex like he would have done once, but just for the extra feeling of safety. He had two main comforts in the world, Gerard and water. Putting the two together was pure bliss. 

“What are you thinking about?” 

Gerard’s voice seemed to come from far away and it took Frank a long moment before he opened his eyes and brought himself back into the moment. Water was tickling the back of his neck and he absently rubbed a hand over it as he smiled. 

“Nothing, really.” He shrugged, turning around when Gerard pulled his shoulder. “Just about how nice this is.”

Gerard smiled warmly down at Frank and met him in a tender kiss. He pulled back after just a second and brushed Frank’s wet hair off his forehead for him, looking at him with some intrigue. Sometimes he still struggled to understand the man, but he only loved him more for it. 

“You seem a lot calmer today.” Gerard noted, running his thumb beneath Frank’s lower lip for a second before he let him go and turned off the shower. “The rider thing not bothering you anymore?”

“Not really.” Frank shrugged after a moment’s thought. He stepped out of the shower with Gerard and smiled as he wrapped a towel around his waist. It felt good to be able to say that and know it to be true. “I guess I realise now that I was over reacting.” 

“That’s good.” Gerard nodded, grabbing a towel for himself and drying his hair first. “I mean, good that it’s not bothering you anymore.” He clarified, smiling and kissing Frank’s cheek as they got dried together. 

Frank knew that Gerard hated it whenever he was on edge, mostly because although the demon was getting better he still struggled with knowing how to handle difficult emotions. It was amazing how much he had helped Frank through his six months of PTSD, when it was so clear that Gerard just wanted Frank to be back to normal. 

Frank didn’t know if he would ever be ‘normal’ again, but the fact that he had calmed down after the episode with the rider after only a few days made him feel hopeful for the future. He had done all the right things; targeted when he was struggling with his stress, called his therapist and worked through the problem. He knew that if he followed the same steps every time he felt like he couldn’t cope, he would reach a point where his PTSD wouldn’t even bother him anymore. 

“So when you finish work tonight we’ll head straight into the city, right?” Gerard asked as he walked out of the bathroom with Frank, his towel now around his waist. 

“Sure, I should be finished by three.” Frank smiled, grabbing some underwear out of his drawer, putting them on along with a white vest to wear beneath his mechanics overalls. He always finished work early on a Friday so he and Gerard had told Mikey they would drop by to visit him and Daisy over the weekend. They were going to go around New York looking at wedding venues for the couple, much to Gerard’s disgust. 

“Mhmm… Think you can make it home for two instead?” Gerard asked, smirking as he pulled on some boxer briefs and skinny jeans before sitting down slowly on the bed. 

Frank glanced over his shoulder at Gerard, smirking in return as he shrugged. “Why?” He asked suspiciously, pulling his overalls out of the wardrobe. 

“Because we could do with an hour before we have to leave… You know I love how you look like that.” Gerard grinned cheekily at Frank, referring to his boxers and white vest combo. Frank thought it made him look like a thug, but Gerard insisted he looked sexy. 

“I’ll see what I can do.” Frank scoffed, rolling his eyes in mock exasperation though Gerard could easily see that Frank was excited by his words. 

“See you at two then lover.” Gerard grinned, lounging on his back on the bed and watching as Frank blew him a kiss before he disappeared out of the bedroom and out of the apartment.

 

“Frank, I need you to wheel that bike out front for me.” 

“Oh?” Frank slid out from beneath the car he was working on and looking at Daryl with confusion from his spot on the floor. “Why? Is the guy here to collect it?” 

“Nah, some pal of his is.” Daryl shrugged and walked away without another word, already working on the forms needed before the bike could be taken away. Frank was left on the floor with his mouth open, his unspoken questions left unanswered. 

“Is it fixed yet?” Frank asked the empty garage, looking around and confirming there was no one there to answer him before he sighed and heaved himself up onto his feet. 

The motorbike that had crashed in their parking lot was stood against its stand beneath an oil stained sheet. The mechanics had all taken a look at it individually but none of them could agree on the best approach to fixing it. They were all confident they _could_ fix it, the contention was _how_. 

Frank had mostly stayed out of the argument, not wanting to get involved with the bike at all. He had been the one to cover it with the sheet. He said it was more professional to cover up things they weren’t working on, but in actual fact he just didn’t like looking at it or remembering the day the rider had crashed. 

He also didn’t like the idea of having to wheel the thing outside, but if Daryl was doing the paper work there was no one else around to do the job. Corey was away for a week on annual leave, and the other mechanics were either on their breaks or taking a day off. It seemed just typical that Frank would have to move the vehicle that was bothering him so much.

Frank heaved another deep, frustrated sigh before he approached the machine and whipped the sheet off it quickly. The bike beneath looked completely unassuming. It was somewhat crushed on one side, though mostly it was just the paint that was scratched. Aesthetically it didn’t look too bad, but the engine had been busted up on the side that had hit the ground and one of the handlebars needed seeing to. Altogether though it didn’t look like anything that should give a man nightmares, so Frank forced himself to not be stupid and slowly took hold of the handlebars.

Frank used the key to unlock the wheels before he hit the kickstand with his heel, supporting the weight of the bike with his arms. It was a powerful, thousand CC beast of a bike and was heavier than it looked. Frank, who wasn’t used to handling vehicles of the two wheeled variety, struggled to wheel the machine out of the garage and across the parking lot where a small moving van was parked. 

The van was turned with its tail facing Frank, the back doors open and a small ramp already out and in place. Frank assumed the bike was being taken away somewhere else then and couldn’t help but feel relieved that they weren’t being expected to fix it.

Outside the van, signing a form Daryl was holding on a clipboard, was a tall black man. Frank couldn’t see his face at first, but as he drew closer the man finished signing the form and looked up to smile at Daryl as they shook hands. 

Daryl turned and walked straight back out into the garage, assuring the man that Frank would help him load the bike into the van, but Frank had nearly dropped the bike on the floor.

“Are you okay Frank?” Daryl asked in alarm, hurrying over to support the bike before Frank dropped it, his arms and legs all turned to jelly. 

“What? Yeah, yeah I’m fine. It’s fine.” Frank shook his head violently to clear it and tugged the bike aside slightly before Daryl could hold it, balancing it again and continuing to wheel it forward as casually as he could. “I’m all fine.”

Daryl didn’t look convinced, but he nodded and walked away without another word. He disappeared into the office just as Frank stopped in front of the ramp, staring with wide eyes at the man waiting for him.

“You must be Frank.” The man was smiling delicately, and though he spoke in a friendly casual tone, he had an air of familiarity in his voice, as if he knew Frank; or at least had heard a lot about him. 

“Uh, yeah.” Frank coughed, the man a complete stranger to him. He could tell he was staring though, but he just couldn’t look away.

Something about the man was making Frank’s heart beat steadily faster and faster, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint why.

The man was beautiful, certainly. His dark skin was so smooth it seemed almost like porcelain, his eyelashes so thick and dark that it looked like he was wearing eyeliner on both the top and bottom lid. He had a warm, inviting smile, and the most plump, soft lips Frank had ever seen. His eyes were as dark as the rest of him, deep brown with mahogany tones and… Dear Lord, even his hands were seductive. 

“Let me help you with that.” Said hands were reaching out to take the bike from Frank, the man pretending not to notice the way Frank couldn’t stop staring at him.

Frank snapped out of his daze when the man took the handlebars and started to push the bike out of Frank’s grip and up the ramp into the van. For a moment Frank was lost, and then he jumped back into reality and took a step closer as if it to help, but the bike was already half way up the ramp.

“We weren’t able to fix it.” He blurted out without thinking, making the man smile and laugh.

“I know, I’m having it taken to a bike specialist just out of town.” 

“Oh.” Frank watched as the man fixed the bike into place in the van using bright orange straps. He rattled the handlebars afterwards to ensure it was all sturdy before he walked back out of the van with stunning grace. He had a supple, lithe body and his small hips seemed to sway slightly as he came down the ramp.

“Is it your bike?” Frank asked curiously, wondering if perhaps the rider who had crashed it had simply been borrowing it. 

“No, I’m just collecting it from here for my friend. I believe you helped him when he crashed.” The man was still smiling at Frank in that sweet, gentle way. It made Frank feel so at ease, it didn’t even bother him to think back about the rider.

“I… Yeah I did.” Frank nodded, biting his lip for a moment. “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine, thank you. He told me about what you did for him.” 

“I didn’t do anything, really.” Frank shrugged, blushing deeply. “I think I just panicked more than anything.” Frank tried to laugh it off, but the black man didn’t laugh with him, only continued to smile. 

“Do you really not know what you did?” He asked curiously, cocking his head to the side and making Frank’s smile fade. 

“What do you mean?” He asked, starting to feel nervous. He didn’t like being talked to as if he was supposed to know something when he was certain he knew that he had done nothing at all for the rider. He thought back briefly to the way the man had just seemed to heal before his eyes, but then he shoved it out of mind again. His therapist had given him a perfectly sound explanation and it was the one he was sticking to. 

“My friend said you seemed not to know.” The man spoke gently and his eyes were curious as he gazed at Frank. “Looking at you now, I can see he was right.”

Frank didn’t know what to take from that, but it was difficult to think with the way he was being looked at. The way those dark eyes scanned over him made his skin crawl, and not in an unpleasant way. He couldn’t believe he was feeling like this with another man… Gerard was the only person he lusted after or felt seduced by, how could a normal man compete with an incubus?

“My name is Jacob.” The man’s tone suddenly changed, becoming firmer but no less kind. “I would really like to speak with you properly. Would I be able to meet you when you finish work?” 

Frank rose his eyebrows in surprise, staring at the man as if he was crazy. He was, however, deliriously tempted by the offer. But then, he remembered, he had an incredible boyfriend waiting for him to finish work early. A sweet, sexy boyfriend who would drive all temptation for this Jacob right out of his mind. Besides, it didn’t sound like Jacob was asking for a friendly chat over coffee, Frank got the impression he wanted to talk about something he had done to the rider the day of the crash, and that was something he would rather avoid. 

“I actually have plans when I finish work.” Frank said slowly, his voice lacking all conviction. “Sorry.” Frank turned to walk away but Jacob lunged forward, touching his arm gently and immediately it was if Frank was being touched by an electric current. 

“Ah!” Frank jumped back in surprise, rubbing his arm where Jacob had touched him and staring at the man in surprise. Jacob looked back at him with apologetic eyes, holding his hands up as a sign of peace. 

“It is really important that I speak with you.” He said as gently as he could, looking at Frank through his eyelashes to appear even more gentle. “I think you realise there is something about you that is different to others… I want to explain it to you. I can help you make sense of what happened between you and my friend.” 

Although Jacob kept his voice low Frank still looked around quickly to make sure there was no one about who would have heard him. His heart was starting to race again and he frowned when he turned back to Jacob, his cheeks pink.

“Nothing happened between me and your friend.” He hissed softly, his body starting to tense. “The guy crashed his bike and I helped him into the office, that’s it. There was hardly anything wrong with him.” 

“Ah but we both know that isn’t true, Frank.” Jacob smiled softly, starting to slowly walk backwards. “Its fine if you don’t want to talk… But I want you to think about that day. About how if it hadn’t been for you and your touch, my friend would surely have died.” 

Frank opened his mouth to protest but Jacob turned his back on him to start closing up the van and Frank realised he had said all he wanted to. 

Frank watched silently until Jacob walked round to the driver side of the van, opening the door and jumping into the seat. 

“He was never in danger you know.” Frank suddenly called out, unable to stop himself. “He was never going to die, I didn’t do anything.” He insisted, but Jacob ignored him and slammed the door of the van shut. Frank shuddered and took a step forward as if to follow the vehicle as it began to move, but then he realised that was crazy and he stopped still, watching as the van disappeared out of the parking lot and down the road before rounding a corner. 

Frank stayed glued to the spot for a long moment, his head in a spin. He didn’t know what to think about what had just happened, but he knew it was important to try and forget it or he’d end up having another stress episode. 

Frank turned and walked back into the garage, trying to push the conversation with Jacob out of his mind and get back to work. He wanted to finish early more than ever so that he could get home to Gerard and enjoy his weekend in New York with nothing around to bother him.

 

“I’ll see you Monday, Daryl!” Frank called as he grabbed his jacket and walked out of the garage, striding purposefully out of the door. It had just gone two in the afternoon and he was eager to get home, his body tense and his mind still whirring.

Although he had been hard at work all morning Frank had still been unable to get his conversation with Jacob out of his head. He kept thinking over what he had said about his touch and how the rider would have died without it. The only explanation Frank could take from that was that he had somehow saved the riders life by touching him… but that was crazy.

Frank had been thinking over what had happened with the rider all day, wondering if he had somehow managed to heal the man. It had looked like he had lost so much blood, and Frank had put that down to him hallucinating, but what if he hadn’t been? What if he really had seen all that blood? What if he rider really had been seriously hurt and he had somehow healed him? 

The thought was enough to drive Frank crazy. It just couldn’t be possible, he didn’t _want_ it to be possible. His life was strange enough having a demon for a boyfriend without him turning out to be some sort of weird healing person. It just didn’t bear thinking about.

But think about it he had. Frank just couldn’t stop thinking about. He didn’t want to admit that it would make sense if he had somehow healed the rider, he just wanted to accept what his therapist had told him and get on with a normal life. 

Frank sighed and shook his head, trying to think straight enough to just get home. He reached his car and grabbed his keys ready to unlock it, but jumped in surprise when he looked up to find Jacob leaning against the bonnet. 

“Jesus!” Frank stopped dead and glared at the man, gripping his key tight like some sort of weapon. “What are you doing here?”

“I want to talk to you.” Jacob straightened up off the car and turned to face Frank properly. “I hoped after giving you some time to think about what I said you’d warm to the idea of us having a conversation.” 

“Well you hoped wrong.” Frank pushed past Jacob and placed his key into the car door, unlocking the vehicle and opening the door ready to leave. “I don’t want to talk to you or hear any of your crazy ideas.”

“Is that so?” Jacob scoffed, standing in front of Frank before he could get into the driver’s seat and holding both hands up in case he had to restrain him. “I could see the second you walked out that you’ve got something on your mind… Maybe it’s what I said?” Jacob cocked his head to the side, raising his eyebrows innocently at Frank who scowled deeply at him.

“Listen man, I don’t know who you are or what you want but I’m telling you for the last time; I don’t want to talk. I know what happened that day, and I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.” Frank shoved hard past Jacob to get into his car, their arms brushing for a moment and instantly Frank’s hairs rose from his skin as if charged by static. His heart missed a beat too and he practically swooned as he fell into his seat. 

Jacob turned slowly to watch as Frank shook his head and quickly started the engine of his car. The man said nothing as Frank glared at him and slammed the door shut, getting ready to pull away. 

“You’ll change your mind.” Jacob warned, taking a step back from the car as it pulled away out of the parking lot. “You’ll want to talk eventually.”

 

By the time Frank reached his apartment he was so on edge he was worried Gerard was going to say they couldn’t go to New York. Sometimes the demon could get a little over protective, and if he was worried that Frank was going to have an episode he’d make him stay at home until he had relaxed again. Sometimes Frank understood his reasoning, but right then he wanted nothing more than to get out of Jersey and go somewhere where no one would know him. 

He felt uneasy about the way Jacob had made him feel. The man had a sort of charm about him, a dizzying kind of charm, but only when he got close enough to touch Frank. When their arms had touched it had been like a bolt of desire through Frank’s veins and he just couldn’t understand why. 

The short walk from the car to the apartment was all it took for Frank to grow even more agitated, so desperate to be in Gerard’s arms. He knew he needed to calm down before he saw Gerard otherwise he’d make him worry, but knowing that didn’t make it possible. He was just too worked up. 

When he walked into the apartment he was met with the usual calming scent that Gerard just seemed to leave all over the place. Frank understood why now; as an incubus it was impossible for Gerard to not intoxicate everything with his sweet scent. His whole being was dedicated to seduction and so he was constantly releasing pheromones that helped him capture his prey. Not that he had to capture Frank anymore.

“Gee I’m home.” Frank called, sighing slightly with relief as he kicked off his shoes and hung up his jacket. It felt good to be home, and he smiled softly as Gerard appeared in the hallway and rushed over to him. 

“There you are! I was worried you weren’t going to get out early.” He chuckled, grinning in his devious way and Frank knew that he was about to be whisked into the bedroom and driven crazy until they had to catch their train. 

“Sorry, I got a little caught up.” Frank sighed, offering a tired smile and lifting his arms to get captured by his lover. He couldn’t wait to have all thoughts of Jacob driven by his mind and -

Frank was scooped up by Gerard and immediately his heart missed a beat. He was used to Gerard’s overwhelming aura of seduction by now, but the way his skin tingled when he was lifted caused his vision to change to that of Jacob for a moment in a dizzying flashback of how he had felt when they had touched by his car. 

“Oh.” Frank found himself falling suddenly, his body turning to a dead weight and taking Gerard by surprise. 

“Frank!?” Gerard quickly supported the mechanic before he could hit the floor, lifting him with more strength and carrying him quickly out of the hallway and into the living room. Frank had gone ashen all over and his body had begun to tremble violently as if he was freezing cold. 

“Frank? What is it?”

Gerard’s face wavered in Frank’s line of sight and the younger man groaned as a wave of nausea took over him. Suddenly everything was making sense… The day he had first met Gerard he had been so new to his charms that it had been like bolts of electricity when they had touched, and Jacob… 

“Oh… Oh God…” Frank suddenly clutched at his chest through his overalls, struggling to breathe as he began to hyperventilate. Gerard was talking to him but he couldn’t focus on what he was saying, able to think of only one thing.

Jacob was an incubus too… He had to be. He had the same overwhelming charm as Gerard did. But why did he want Frank? Why couldn’t he just be left alone to get his life back on track?

“G – Gerard…” Frank choked, his heart squeezing and thudding out of time. His chest was beginning to hurt and he knew he couldn’t breathe properly. A cold sweat was dampening his skin and his hands were slipping as he grabbed at Gerard’s and squeezed them tight. 

“Frank! Frank you need to calm down.” Gerard’s voice seemed to come from far away, but Frank could feel him and his mind was growing clearer though his shaking was more violent. 

“I… I’m having a heart attack! I’m having a heart attack!” Frank gasped, writhing on the sofa until Gerard gently restrained him with strong arms. He pulled Frank into a sitting position, gripping his shoulders and looking him dead in the eye. 

“You’re not having a heart attack.” He spoke loudly but calmly, one hand coming up to touch Frank’s cheek. “You’re having a panic attack. You need to calm down. Here,” Gerard grabbed Frank’s clammy hand and held it to his chest, pressing hard until he was breathing against Frank’s palm. “Breathe with me… That’s it, match my breathing… In Frank, breathe in… Good… Now out…” Gerard trailed off as he breathed slowly and deliberately.

Frank began to cry and choke, struggling to match Gerard’s breathing at first. He was convinced his heart was failing and that he was about to die, but with Gerard’s calm eyes looking deep into his he eventually managed to steady his breathing until it was all he could focus on. In… Out… In… Out… In… Out…

“Okay… You’re okay.” Gerard whispered, moving his hand away from Frank’s to tenderly wipe the tears off his cheeks. 

Frank’s heart was finally beginning to steady, the palpitations disappearing until it was just thudding at a fast pace and soon even though slowed down to its regular rhythm. Frank still felt shaken, his overalls damp with sweat and he realised suddenly that he was exhausted. 

“Oh God… I thought… I thought… I don’t know what just happened.” Frank whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut when Gerard pulled him into a gentle embrace and he clung tightly to him. 

“I thought I was going to die.” Frank gasped, his nails digging into Gerard’s shirt. 

“You’re not dying Frank, you’re perfectly safe.” Gerard spoke calmly and reassuringly, pressing tender kisses to Frank’s hair as he rubbed his back slowly. “It was just a panic attack…” He whispered, waiting for Frank to calm down some more before he pulled back to look at him and gently wipe his cheeks. 

“Something must have brought this on. Did something happen at work this morning?”

“What? No.” Frank protested quickly, blushing and avoiding Gerard’s gaze. The demon was looking at him with suspicious eyes and Frank suddenly felt like a guilty suspect trying to prove his innocence in front of a jury. 

“Work was fine. I… I don’t know what brought this on. Honestly, I was just excited to get home to you.” Frank gently touched Gerard’s hand that was still resting on his cheek and carefully lifted his gaze to meet his lovers. 

“Hm…” Gerard looked unconvinced but eventually decided he trusted Frank. “It must be worrying about the weekend then. Maybe it’s a bad idea for us to go out into the city when you’re still so on edge.” He sighed, slowly getting to his feet. 

“What?” Frank whimpered, biting his lip and jumping up to grab Gerard’s hand before he could walk away. “Don’t say that Gee, I’ve been so excited about it! I think going to the city is exactly what I need. I need to get out of this place it’s this… this damn apartment!” Frank suddenly drew inspiration and seized it, knowing he needed to offer a plausible explanation for his panic attack or Gerard would insist they stayed home for the weekend. 

“Whenever I walk in here I can’t help but think about when Ava visited me here. Or the time I nearly drank myself to death.” Frank lied quickly, waving his hands about to illustrate his point. “This place has so many bad memories for me now, I just want to get away from it!”

“Really?” Gerard looked at Frank sceptically, surprised by his words. “But I thought you said…” Gerard trailed off, frowning. 

When the couple had first started picking up the pieces of Frank’s life the first thing Gerard had suggested was that Frank move into his house with him. It was impersonal there, yes; but that meant it was a blank canvas ready for Frank to add his human touches too. But the mechanic had insisted on remaining in his apartment. He had told Gerard it didn’t bother him at all, and that it was his home and a comfort to him. Gerard had listened, wanting only to make Frank happy, and after a few months he had moved into the apartment too.

“I know what I said.” Frank sighed, biting his lip and gently slipping his arms around Gerard’s neck. “But the truth is it’s been bothering me for a while now, I was just too scared to tell you in case you got angry.” Frank felt a tinge of guilt for lying, but to his delight it did the trick and Gerard sighed as he turned and hugged Frank back. 

“You humans can be real idiots.” Gerard scoffed, though he held Frank tight and peppered his face in light kisses. “You know you should _always_ tell me when something is bothering you.” 

“I know… I’m sorry.” Frank whispered, sighing and hiding his face in Gerard’s chest for a moment. He knew deep down that he should tell him about Jacob and be honest, but he also knew there was no way he was going to do that. He may be the one living with PTSD but Gerard could get just as worked up as he did when it came to their safety, and if the demon ever found out another incubus was in contact with Frank he’d lose his mind.

“We’ll go to Mikey’s as planned.” Gerard sighed, thinking out loud. “But as soon as we get back we’re going to find a new place to live. I’m not having you stay here if it’s stopping you from recovering.” 

Gerard let go of Frank then and kissed him quickly before pulling him to the bedroom to finish packing their case for the weekend. Frank didn’t even try to protest. He did really love his apartment, but he knew he couldn’t blame it for his panic attack one minute then beg to stay the next… and maybe it was time he moved on anyway. 

Frank wanted to make a life with Gerard. And maybe what he needed was a real home, a home that they had both made their own together. Then he would feel safe, _really_ safe, and it wouldn’t matter how many demons tried to contact him. He would recognise the signs next time and make sure that no infernal creature ever tried to speak to him again.


	3. Demons

For two months, Frank neither saw nor heard of Jacob again. 

He had gone to New York with Gerard as planned and had enjoyed traipsing around the city, arm in arm with Daisy as they all looked at different wedding venues. While Mikey had dutifully tried to stay interested, Gerard had remained consistently agitated and bored. Frank, though, had turned positively camp; discussing flower arrangements and cake flavours with the excited bride-to-be. 

In fact, Frank had been in such a good mood the whole time, that it had helped confirm in Gerard’s mind that the apartment really was the thing that had caused his previous panic attack, and so when it came to returning to Jersey, Frank was stunned to find that Gerard drove them straight past their apartment and continued on down the road. 

“Where are we going?” Frank had asked curiously, turning to look out the window as their apartment disappeared from view. 

“I want to show you something,” was all Gerard would say in response, refusing to let on where exactly they were going for the further ten minute drive.

At last they had pulled up outside a small, private cottage with a ‘SOLD’ sign standing in the front garden. Frank had leant forward in his seat, staring with wide, shocked eyes as Gerard had got out of the car and stood in the driveway, waiting for Frank to join him.

The cottage was part of a new build of houses, a little further back from the road than the other homes, with a lot more garden space out back. It had once been the only house on that street, but urbanisation had caught up and now it was surrounded by white picket fences and family houses. Still, the cottage had a romantic air about it, like a piece of history proudly offering a break from reality right in the middle of a housing estate. 

“What are we doing here?” Frank had breathed as he got out the car, unable to stop looking at the roses growing up one side of the door and the ‘SOLD’ sign on the grass. Gerard couldn’t possibly have bought the place…

But of course, that was exactly what Gerard had done. 

Gerard had lived in Jersey long enough to know about the cottage. It wasn’t something that had ever particularly interested him, but he knew Frank well enough to know it was his dream home. Modern technology meant that Gerard could browse the housing market straight from his phone whilst walking about New York and, as soon as he had seen that the cottage was on the market, he had called the property agent whilst Frank was busy with Daisy and had put down an offer the owners couldn’t refuse. 

Two months later and the apartment had been put back up for rent, all of the couple’s belongings had been given a place in the cottage, and life was finally back on track. 

Frank had been so shocked and excited over their new home that he had thrown himself into making it truly personal and special for them. He hadn’t even realised that his apartment really was keeping him on edge until they had moved. In the two months they had been living in the cottage, he had not even had a hint of another panic episode, and all he ever talked about with his therapist now was how great things were.

True, at first Frank had been furious with Gerard. He had no idea where the demon got his money, only ever getting told that money just seems to accumulate when you’ve been alive for centuries. Even so, Frank didn’t want to be one of those men who let their other half constantly provide for them; he didn’t know if it was male pride or what, he just wanted to know he was contributing evenly as well. His anger hadn’t lasted long though; the cottage was just too beautiful for that.

Gerard too had settled in better than he had imagined. He had bought the cottage for Frank, but to his surprise it didn’t feel like Frank’s cottage, it felt like _their_ cottage. Their sanctuary. Their home. 

The two months since moving in had flown by and Gerard was relieved to know that Frank was finally really relaxed. He had got something of the old Frank back. It was like the two happy weeks they had spent together in the beginning, when Frank had stopped drinking and before Gerard tried to break everything off before it could develop into a relationship… He could hardly believe he had been so stupid, but he knew deep down that if it wasn’t for what had happened with Ava, he probably never would have admitted his feelings for Frank.

Perhaps it was strange that Gerard should be thankful to the succubus for bringing him and Frank back together, but Gerard was oddly at peace with the whole notion. Although the whole experience with Ava had been a terrible one, and although Gerard had been tortured mentally just as much as Frank had been physically, it had ended beautifully… Without Ava’s input, the two men would not be a couple, let alone such a happy one living in such a beautiful place.

But then… it was easy to forget how awful the time with Ava had been when things were so happy now. But Frank’s scars were always there to serve as a reminder should either of the men need one.

By the end of the two months, Frank was finally in a place where he was so happy he couldn’t keep his hands off Gerard. Although their sex life hadn’t disappeared entirely, it had suffered greatly compared to how things had been before Ava. Gerard of course was as insatiable as ever, and it was difficult for an incubus to restrain himself when he was used to sex all of the time. He had remained loyal though, never touching another person and waiting as patiently as possible for Frank to come to him first.

Things had been getting steadily better, but whereas most of the time Frank had been using their sex as a way of forgetting things troubling him, he was now able to properly indulge again and the couple were finally getting round to christening every room in the cottage.

The bedroom of course was already checked off the list, as was the bathroom; one of the first things Frank had wanted was to try out the large, claw footed bathtub and it had resulted in much more fun than he had anticipated. 

The garden would certainly be used, whether Frank had thought of it or not, but Gerard knew to at least wait for the summer. In the meantime they had the living room and the kitchen to think about first, and Gerard rarely stopped thinking about it.

Winter was now fully settled in. They had had their first snowfall the night before, and the log fire in the living room had been crackling away since. Though it was only early afternoon, the sky was grey and thick with snow yet to fall, making the world outside look like a black and white photograph; a stark contrast to their brightly coloured living room.

Frank had strung up fairy lights from the first of December, and had demanded they get their Christmas tree a week later. Gerard didn’t believe in celebrating silly holidays like Christmas, but it was hard not to get into the spirit of things when Frank was so excited by it all. And it certainly made the room feel more romantic. 

With it being a Sunday Frank was off work, and with a full day of Christmas shopping done the day before, the two men were gladly relaxing in front of an old movie on the TV. Frank had been gladly cuddling up to watch it; engrossed within the first five minutes, but Gerard had had other things in mind.

It had been stunningly easy to tempt Frank onto his lap, and after only a few eager tugs, he had managed to turn the mechanic round so that he could kiss him. Frank had responded with more energy than Gerard had expected, and soon he had his hands in the demons hair and his tongue in his mouth. He had crushed himself to Gerard, kissing him with strength and passion, and Gerard had been blown away. He had missed this… the wonderful, electric lust of a human. He could feel power already coursing through him, knowing that Frank was so intoxicated by him again.

“God I’ve missed this,” Frank suddenly gasped, throwing his head back and closing his eyes as Gerard started to attack his neck with kisses. Frank’s hands instinctively clenched over Gerard’s back, digging in through his shirt as he exhaled shakily. 

“Mhmm…” Gerard moaned his own agreement, sucking gently at a patch of skin on Frank’s neck until a large, purple bruise was left. He then trailed his kisses round, over Frank’s throat and to the other side of his neck. 

“Ah!” Frank shivered and tensed involuntarily, squeezing his eyes shut harder as Gerard ever so tenderly brushed his lips over the scar where his scorpion tattoo had once been. The scar itself was not painful, though having it touched was always difficult for the first few seconds, but Frank soon relaxed. 

Gerard kept his touch light, waiting for Frank to slump against him again, before he kissed more passionately down. He lifted a hand to touch the collar of Frank’s woollen jumper, pulling it aside to reveal the skin connecting neck and shoulder where his lips continued to explore. 

Frank sighed in quiet delight and gently scratched Gerard’s back, feeling his trousers tighten more and more as Gerard’s soft lips caressed his skin. He didn’t even care that his jumper was being stretched, too entranced by the way Gerard felt, holding him so firmly against his body.

It felt like it had been forever since Gerard had been able to really seduce Frank, and he wasted no time before pulling the jumper off of his lover and immediately going back to kissing his shoulders and neck. He was just as aroused and breathless as Frank, starting to pant softly as he worshipped his skin. 

Frank’s back was kept warm by the heat of the fire, its soft crackling and the talking on the TV blending together into a background noise that seemed very far away. 

Frank was starting to lean back against Gerard’s hands, arching his whole body to push his chest out and expose the length of his throat. Gerard took a moment to look at him, not sure which part of him he wanted to kiss most. In the end, he leant up to trail a long line from beneath Frank’s chin, all the way down to his nipples which had gone pert from arousal.

Frank was breathing so heavily that his chest was rising and falling rapidly under Gerard’s lips, and he made the sweetest sounds when the demon rolled his tongue round one of his nipples. 

Frank seemed unsure as to where to put his hands, wanting to scratch, pull and grip all at once. Gerard’s shirt was becoming dishevelled with all the pawing it was getting and eventually, Gerard pulled back to yank the garment away.

Frank slowly opened his eyes then, looking down at his lover for a moment before he shot down to kiss him with ferocity. Gerard groaned and wrapped his arms tight around Frank’s back, pulling him harder against himself until Frank’s legs were wide apart over Gerard’s hips. 

Gerard hummed low in his throat when Frank pulled away to start kissing his neck too, altogether less experienced and more energetic than Gerard. He bit on Gerard’s ear and sucked hard on his jugular, all teeth and tongue and pure, desperate need. It sent fire through Gerard’s veins and he couldn’t stop himself from forcing his hands past the tight waistband of Frank’s jeans and gripping his ass tight.

“You… I’ve missed _you_.” Gerard growled, yanking Frank’s hips forward with his hands on his backside until a small amount of much needed friction made them both moan.

Frank didn’t need to ask what Gerard meant by his words, he knew perfectly well and he was inclined to agree. He missed himself too… Missed this feeling of lust that wasn’t brought on by needing to forget or just because Gerard’s scent had finally got to him… It was that feeling of lust he got when he was relaxed, happy and just after any excuse to touch his lover.

It didn’t take long after that for Gerard to get Frank out of his clothes. Neither man had the patience for long foreplay; it was really pure luck that they had lube close enough to hand, as they wouldn’t attempt anything without it. 

It took mere minutes for Gerard to slicken his fingers and relax Frank enough before he was two knuckles deep inside him, his arm stretched so that he could reach right round his lover and tease him mercilessly with his fingers. 

Frank was really beyond himself then. He had somehow managed to undo the zip on Gerard’s jeans and pull his erection free of his underwear, both his hands wrapped around his length and pumping him at once as he moaned and pushed back hard against the fingers inside him. He couldn’t remember the exact moment he had started grabbing at Gerard’s crotch, but he obviously had and he wasn’t about to let up either.

Gerard was far from complaining, although he was beginning to relax into things like he always did. The demonic instincts in him slowed his senses down, and though his eyes blazed black until even the whites had gone, he leisurely lifted his hips into Frank’s hands, and focused mainly on what his fingers were doing.

Of course, skills honed over centuries, Gerard soon had Frank so close to the brink that his inner channel was pulsing with his approaching orgasm. Gerard was tempted to make him cum just like that, sucking on his neck and rubbing his prostate with their bodies so tight together… It was perfect enough for him, but Frank was the typical young human who wanted everything or nothing at all.

“S – Stop… Stop it! You’re gonna make me… Aghh…” Frank squeezed tight around Gerard’s fingers, his own hands coming away from between Gerard’s legs and planting on his chest instead. Frank bowed his head and breathed hard as he quickly lifted up and away from Gerard’s hands, shuddering when he lost contact with his fingers.

Gerard looked at Frank calmly, smiling when Frank actually met his gaze and held it. Frank was usually put off by the way Gerard’s eyes turned black, but with their relationship so strong it was impossible for Gerard to stop it from happening. His ‘demon eyes’, as Frank put it, came through whenever emotions were strongest, and he was too in love with the human to hide it anymore.

This time though, Frank stared into the glossy blackness with calmness, his own eyes sparkling with desire. He cocked a small grin at Gerard and reached down to grip the demon’s erection at the base. He moved himself carefully but as quickly as he could, lifting up to line himself with Gerard before sinking down, never moving his gaze.

Gerard tensed and tried not to shake, holding Frank’s gaze for as long as he could until he just had to close his eyes, gasping harshly as he felt himself opening Frank up and drawing power from his body.

As soon as Gerard’s eyes closed, Frank bowed his head, tucking his face into the crook of Gerard’s neck and whining softly as he pressed down until he could feel the coarse hairs between Gerard’s legs pressing against his ass.

He moved his hips slowly at first, rolling them forwards and back rather than bouncing up and down so that he caused a sweet, grating friction whilst still keeping his lover deep inside. As his pleasure levelled out and then started to climb again, Frank moved his hips faster and faster, whining and panting with frustration. He could feel his orgasm so close, his cock hard and twitching every few seconds, and yet his pleasure kept building and building and building, and he moved faster and faster and faster, chasing the explosion he knew was imminent. 

Gerard kept his hands still on Franks hips, the demon relaxing back against the sofa cushions and keeping his legs wide so Frank could have full control. His teeth were clenched hard and his eyes kept closing of their own accord. He couldn’t stop himself from moaning softly every now and then, but he was certain Frank couldn’t hear him. Frank probably couldn’t even hear himself, Gerard didn’t think the human was aware of how much he was moaning and chanting the word ‘fuck’ over and over again.

Gerard knew better than Frank did as to when the human was about to cum, and he gripped Frank’s hips harder when he felt the telling pull of his inner muscles working over his cock. He hissed with pleasure and suddenly stopped Frank’s rocking so that he could pull out and then slam back in, shocking Frank’s body into surrendering to him.

Frank was so overcome by his orgasm that he stopped moaning and simply made soft, breathless sounds against Gerard’s neck as he tensed and shook all over. After the initial, bursting relief he began to move again, desperate for more, but his body soon became over sensitive.

Gerard turned his head slightly to run his nose through Frank’s hair, breathing in the utterly delicious scent that Frank seemed to emit as he slipped out of him. Frank’s hand immediately came down to wrap around his length before he could even move his own hands, and with just a few, perfect tugs of the hand, Gerard was spilling his own release between their stomachs.

Frank was the first to slump, his body sensitive and highly charged but completely sapped of energy. Gerard continued to nuzzle and kiss his neck, his own body completely empowered. It was almost as if he drew the energy right out of Frank when they made love. Frank didn’t care though, it meant he was free to collapse and lounge on the sofa whilst Gerard would clean them up and then make them their usual post sex drink; in this case hot chocolate, since it was December. 

Gerard walked through to the kitchen and put the kettle on whilst Frank slumped down off the sofa and onto the floor. The mechanic was trying to force himself to get back into his clothes but in the end he simply grabbed the throw off the back of the couch and wrapped it around himself. He stood up and stretched, one hand on the throw to keep it from falling as he turned and looked out of the window.

Frank was checking to see if it had started snowing again, always loving it when it snowed. Work would often get busier with people crashing their cars more often, but Frank didn’t worry about that. He just loved winter and all the things that came with it.

Outside everything was pristine and white from the last snow fall. The entire street was coated with untouched snow, blending into the sky which was pale and grey as far as the eye could see. 

Frank smiled to himself, enjoying the contrast of white outside and colour inside, and was about to turn away from the window when something caught his attention.

Frank turned back around and frowned as he leant forward, watching as a figure appeared at the end of the street. He wasn’t sure what made him stand and watch, but something about the person held his attention as they moved slowly through the snow, leaving a track of prints behind them.

The figure was a man in a long, white winter coat. He had the collar turned up and at first Frank couldn’t see his face. As he came closer to the cottage though, Frank began to fear the worse. The man was tall and slender, and walked with grace even in the snow. As he came outside the cottage he paused to a stop and then slowly turned, looking right at Frank through the window.

“Shit!” Frank dropped onto the floor suddenly, hoping that Jacob wouldn’t have seen him through the window. He pressed himself to the carpet and hid under the throw, his heart racing in his chest. How had the man found him? 

Gerard walked into the living room at the sound of Frank’s cry and quirked an eyebrow when he saw the human sprawled on the floor. 

“Uh… Frank?” Gerard wasn’t sure whether to laugh or not and slowly walked over to the mechanic to help him back to his feet. “What are you do-” Gerard stopped in his tracks when he noticed the man stood outside their garden wall, looking in on them. Gerard couldn’t see much of his face, only that he was a black man. 

“Who’s that?” He asked curiously, stepping up to the window to try and get a closer look. “Do you know that guy?”

“Get _down!_ ” Frank suddenly hissed, grabbing Gerard’s ankle and trying to yank him down onto the floor. Gerard didn’t move an inch, he barely even felt Frank’s hand.

“Gee!”

“Who is he?” Gerard demanded, starting to grow worried and he looked down at Frank who was still clinging to his leg. “You know him?”

“He’s just some guy who’s been watching me.” Frank started to explain, still trying to pull Gerard down but as soon as the demon heard that he growled, low and animalistic in his throat, turning and striding away from Frank, breaking easily out of his grasp. 

“Watching you?” He repeated, his voice dark with anger. “What the hell do you mean watching you?” Gerard grabbed his jeans from the floor and pulled them on as he left the room, leaving his torso completely bare so that he could rush outside and storm down the garden path with bare feet. 

“Gee, no!” Frank squeaked, struggling onto his feet and keeping his blanket around himself like a dress as he rushed through the hallway. He stopped at the front door, peeking nervously outside and watching Gerard make his way to the street where Jacob was watching him curiously. 

“Hey!” Gerard snapped, walking through the snow as if he couldn’t even feel the cold. “Who the hell are you? What do you want?” He demanded, getting right in Jacob’s face but the man only smiled calmly at him. 

“My name is Jacob, hasn’t Frank told you about me?” He asked politely, as if it was absurd that Gerard shouldn’t know him. Immediately the demon grew defensive, bristling as he scowled at Jacob and glanced over his shoulder at Frank for a second.

“No.” He said simply, looking back at Jacob with clear suspicion. “Who are you?” He demanded again. 

Jacob stared at Gerard for a long moment, looking him up and down, observing the way his pale skin looked, practically as white as the snow; the dark tint to his eyes, the easy way he stood with bare feet despite the freezing temperatures. Jacob then moved his gaze to Frank cowering in his blanket in the doorway and he heaved a long, disappointed sigh.

“Oh dear… I think I might be intruding.” He spoke slowly, under his breath, as if he was coming to a realisation. “I… Can I ask you, how do you know Frank?” He asked Gerard innocently, causing the demon to tense angrily. 

“How do I know him!? I’m his boyfriend!” He snapped angrily, practically puffing out his chest as he filled with anger and upset at the question. “How do YOU know him!?”

“I’m sorry,” Jacob held his hands up slowly, shaking his head and looking sadly at Gerard. “I am… I won’t bother you or Frank again. I didn’t realise that he was… well. It doesn’t matter. I’m sorry, bye.” Jacob scuttled away quickly, rushing down the street as Gerard watched him go with a deep scowl. 

Gerard’s nostrils were flaring with angry breathing, his mind in a spin. Who was that man? Frank had never mentioned any man watching him before, and it seemed fairly obvious that whoever he was he had been surprised to hear that not only had Frank never mentioned him, but that Frank had a lover. Instantly Gerard began jumping to conclusions, despite knowing he shouldn’t. 

He waited until Jacob disappeared from view before he turned and made his way back into the house. Frank was silent in the doorway, his eyes wide and his face filled with guilt. Gerard couldn’t imagine what Frank had to feel guilty about, but it was becoming clear that the human was hiding something. 

“Who the hell was that?” Gerard demanded as he stepped into the cottage, slamming the door shut behind him and storming into the kitchen.

Frank bit his lip and hesitated a moment before he scuttled after his lover, able to sense that Gerard was furious. He could understand why; Gerard hated it when Frank kept anything from him, it made him worry even more about everything. Frank wished he had just been honest with Gerard from the beginning, but then, he hadn’t imagined that Jacob would turn into his stalker. 

“Gee?” Frank whimpered, hiding in his blanket as he watched the demon from the kitchen doorway. “Are you mad?”

“Should I be mad!?” Gerard demanded, whirling round to look at Frank. “Who was that man?” 

“No one!” Frank insisted, blushing deeply when he realised Gerard was looking at him with an accusatory stare. “I don’t know him at all, he’s just some guy who came to pick up the bike from work, that’s all.” 

“That’s all?” Gerard repeated, scowling and turning to finish making the hot chocolates he had started, just so that he could do something to try and keep his mind from racing on ahead. “If that’s all he is then why is he coming to our house?” 

“I don’t know!” Frank groaned, running a hand through his hair as a spark of fear ignited inside him. He didn’t think he’d be able to cope if another demon started loitering around him all the time. “I don’t even know how he knows where I live!”

“You said he’d been watching you.” Gerard suddenly remembered turning around with a mug and tea spoon in his hands. “What did you mean? Why has he been watching you? Stalking you?” 

“I don’t know,” Frank shrugged, biting his lip and taking a step towards Gerard who was stirring the hot chocolate so quickly it was starting to spill over the sides of the mug. “Please Gee, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. He won’t bother me again now you’ve talked to him,” Frank promised, gently taking the cup and spoon from Gerard and putting it back down on the kitchen counter. 

“How can you know that?” Gerard asked, still confused over what was happening. “You still haven’t explained why he would be interested in you at all.”

“Because I don’t know why,” Frank insisted, slipping his arms around Gerard’s neck and gently kissing his cheek. “He hasn’t even really been watching me, I was exaggerating. I’ve only ever seen him like, twice.” 

“Really?” Gerard asked sceptically, raising his eyebrows at Frank and leaning back so he couldn’t hug him completely. “Well you freaked out when you saw him. Bit of a strong reaction if you’ve only seen him twice.” Gerard looked at Frank intently, asking with his eyes for more answers but all he got in return was a blush from Frank and then more silence. 

“He seemed surprised that I didn’t know his name. In fact, he seemed surprised that I was around at all… Why might that be?” Gerard asked, trying to sound innocently curious and not like he was leading to anything. Frank only looked at him with a frown and pursed lips. 

“He rushed off pretty fast too, when he heard that I was your boyfriend.” Gerard continued, obviously digging now and Frank finally understood what the demon was thinking. 

“Gerard.” He groaned, tipping his head back and rolling his eyes. “I can’t believe this… I can tell what you’re thinking and its _stupid_. The guy is a creep, I don’t know him and I’m definitely not seeing him.” He said firmly, meeting Gerard’s gaze again with a cool scowl. 

“I never said you were, sounds like a guilty conscience to me.” Gerard sniffed, moving away from Frank and striding back through to the living room.

“Seriously?” Frank snapped, storming after Gerard and grabbing his hand to try and stop him. “Don’t you dare start doing this! Are you trying to accuse me of cheating on you?” He demanded, waiting for Gerard to look at him, albeit over his shoulder. 

“Like I said, I wasn’t going to say anything like that-” 

“Yes you were!” Frank growled, yanking Gerard’s hand to make him turn around properly. “It was obvious that was what you were thinking. I can’t believe you would even consider that, you _know_ how much I love you!” 

“And you know I’m not the jealous type, so why else would I be suspicious over that guy?” 

“Clearly you’re more of a jealous guy than you think you are.” Frank scoffed, letting go of Gerard’s hand and shoving away from him in disgust. He felt embarrassed and angry to even think that Gerard thought he was capable of cheating on him, especially when the truth was so terrifying… He had another demon on his tracks and he couldn’t even tell the one person he needed to keep him safe. 

“Jacob is just a guy who came to my work and picked up that bike. And I’ll be honest, a couple times he’s asked me to go out for a drink with him, he said he wants to talk or something but I’ve _always_ refused because the guy creeps me out, okay!?” Frank tried to show in his eyes how honest he was being, but Gerard still looked sceptical. 

“If that’s true then why haven’t you told me about him before?” He asked slowly, some of his anger starting to disappear from his tone. 

“Because I didn’t think it was important. I thought he would just leave me alone, I never imagined he’d come to our house!” Frank groaned, turning away for a moment to try and compose. He ran his hands through his hair and then slowly turned back to Gerard, nervously touching his hands. “Gee please, I can’t believe you don’t trust me.” 

“I do trust you.” Gerard responded instantly, not even having to think about it. He sighed heavily and laced his fingers with Frank’s, pulling him gently into a tight embrace. He suddenly felt stupid for getting suspicious in the first place. He was an incubus after all; he could seduce Frank and intoxicate him better than any other human. Of course Frank wouldn’t cheat on him. 

“I’m sorry… I was being stupid, you’re right,” Gerard sighed, shaking his head in frustration at himself, but he smiled when he felt Frank relax.

“It’s fine…” Frank whispered, hiding his face in Gerard’s chest and working to calm down his racing heart. He couldn’t believe Gerard had even thought he could be unfaithful to him, but more importantly than that he was just grateful that he hadn’t had to reveal the truth about Jacob. He was still holding onto the hope that the man would leave him alone, and until he was certain that he wasn’t going to, he wasn’t going to tell Gerard that he thought he was a demon.

 

A heavy snowfall the night before had left Frank with no other choice than to walk to work. Although the roads had been cleared by grit and snowploughs for the most part, his Chevelle was too precious to take out in such adverse weather… that and the fact the old girl struggled to even start when it was so cold. 

Frank didn’t mind walking to work though. He loved snow and he took pleasure in wrapping up in layers of clothes and trudging along the snow covered sidewalk. 

When he reached the garage, Frank was immediately put in charge of shovelling the snow on the parking lot to the sides. Frank gladly took the task since he was already wrapped up warm, and it meant being outside even longer. They only had one car needing to be worked on, so the majority of staff were doing paper work anyway. As such, Frank took his time outside, enjoying the time to be alone with his thoughts.

After Jacob’s surprise appearance the day before, Frank had been worrying about the man even more. Gerard at least had calmed down fairly quickly and they had still had an enjoyable day together. Frank was hoping he would never see Jacob again, but it had shaken him up to see him after having had two months of believing he wasn’t going to be bothered by him at all.

Frank couldn’t understand why Jacob had suddenly appeared, or how he had found out where he lived. He was trying not to let it frighten him, but how could it not? After all that had happened with Ava, Frank knew he wouldn’t survive another run in with a demon.

As he shovelled the snow Frank became vaguely aware of the sound of a motorbike in the distance. He didn’t take any notice at first, but as the noise grew louder he stopped shovelling and turned to watch the road. By the sounds of the exhaust, the rider wasn’t going slowly, despite the adverse weather, and Frank couldn’t help but watch when he could hear that the bike was coming down the road the garage was built on.

Within seconds the vehicle appeared with a rider in all black leather. As the bike came closer it began to slow, and to Frank’s surprise it turned into the garage parking lot. Frank had only cleared a small space of snow by that point so the rider stopped the bike in the square of snowless ground.

Frank watched with growing dread as the rider pushed himself off the bike and then quickly unclipped his helmet. Frank practically knew who it was before his face was revealed and only groaned in frustration when Jacob grinned at him.

“Hello Frank,” the man beamed widely, walking through the snow towards the mechanic who had tensed at the sight of the demon. “I was hoping to find you here.”

“What the hell do you want with me!?” Frank demanded, lifting his snow shovel high as if to strike Jacob and immediately the man stopped in his tracks, raising his hands up with a look of surprise. “Don’t you come any closer to me!”

“Frank!” Jacob gasped, his eyes wide. “I’m not trying to hurt you, I just want to talk with you.”

“What is it with you and talking!?” Frank snarled, lifting the shovel even higher. “Haven’t I made it clear I don’t want to talk to you? Have you been following me? How did you know where I live!?” He demanded, tempted to hit Jacob with the shovel even if he didn’t move. He just wanted the creature out of his life. 

“I was keeping tabs on you,” Jacob admitted, hands still held up. “I just wanted to help you… I could sense you had been touched by a demon, I just didn’t realise that it was because you were living with one.” Jacob shook his head as if this baffled him and Frank felt his cheeks blaze red. 

“So I’m right then… You are a demon…” He whispered, tightening his grip on the shovel, ready to swing, but Jacob only looked confused. 

“Me?” He asked, his eyes widening even more. “I’m not a demon.” Jacob’s voice took on a strange tone, as if he was trying not to laugh. 

“How do you know Gerard is then?” Frank challenged, certain that Jacob must be lying, but the man did look honest. But then if he was a demon he would find it easy to mask his real emotions. 

“Why don’t we go for a drink somewhere and we can talk properly?” Jacob asked gently, looking around pointedly. “I don’t make a point of talking about demons where anyone could walk by.” 

Frank opened his mouth to protest but then thought again, looking around too as he thought about how Daryl would react if he came out and found him looking ready to hit a past customer with a snow shovel after talking about demons. He slowly lowered the shovel with a blush, though he continued to look at Jacob with suspicion.

“Why would I want to go and talk with you?” He asked quietly. 

“Because I have important things I want to discuss with you,” Jacob sighed, lowering his hands. Frank raised his eyebrows in even more confusion, not sure what important things anyone could possibly want to talk to him about. 

“Now I know you are living with an incubus it’s even more imperative that I speak with you.” 

“Why?” Frank demanded, taking a step back when Jacob tried to approach him. The other man stopped, sighing deeply and looking at Frank with a worried gaze.

“It just is… Do you even realise what your boyfriend really is?” Jacob asked darkly, making Frank feel a twinge of worry despite being certain that he knew Gerard better than anyone. 

“The same as you?” He offered with a sneer, Jacob smiling weakly as he shook his head. 

“I’m not a demon, Frank.” He spoke calmly. 

“Well you’re not a human either.” Frank retorted and to his surprise Jacob agreed with him.

“No, I’m not.” He nodded, shrugging like it was nothing. “And neither are you.” 

Frank was thrown by that and he stared at Jacob in surprise, shaking his head. 

“What are you talking about?” He asked, frowning when Jacob only insisted they should go somewhere proper to talk. “I need to work,” Frank complained, looking about again for a moment before sighing deeply. 

“There’s a coffee place not too far from here, just round the corner there,” Frank pointed with his finger. “I finish work at five… I… I’ll meet you in there. But after I’ve talked to you, you have to promise you’ll leave me alone.” Frank knew it was useless trying to make deals with demons, which he was still half convinced Jacob was. 

“Fine,” Jacob nodded, shrugging one shoulder. “If that’s what you want after we’ve talked, then I promise I’ll leave you alone.” Jacob smiled then; gentle and kind. “I’ll see you at five.”

Frank nodded tensely and watched in silence as Jacob pulled his helmet back on and then climbed onto his bike. Frank took another step backward and stared as the bike fired to life and Jacob nodded at him once before turning the machine around and riding away.

Frank immediately felt a sense of foreboding over agreeing to meet the man, and wondered fleetingly if he should call and tell Gerard. In the end though he decided against it, surely not even a demon would try to harm him in a public place… and maybe Jacob really did have some information that Frank needed. One thing was certain though, whatever Jacob was going to tell him, Frank wanted to decide if it was anything Gerard needed to know… He would go to the coffee shop alone, and only tell Gerard about it if he had to.


	4. Scars

“Frank, I’m so glad you came.” Jacob stood up graciously and offered Frank his hand in a polite handshake. Frank eyed him suspiciously but took his hand all the same, never moving his gaze from Jacob’s face. 

“I thought you might not come.” Jacob sat back down in his seat by the window where he had been for the past hour. He had already drank two cups of coffee just whilst he waited for Frank to finish work, and had got himself another ready for when Frank arrived. 

Frank had walked through the door at ten past five, bought himself a gingerbread latte and then headed straight over to Jacob’s table. He didn’t look happy about being here, but it didn’t matter. Jacob only needed to talk to him for a moment. 

“How was work?” Jacob asked conversationally as Frank unwound his scarf from round his neck and removed his winter coat. 

“I really didn’t come here to make idle chat with you.” Frank scoffed, laying everything over the back of his chair before he shuffled around trying to get comfortable. He felt incredibly tense and couldn’t seem to find a good position for sitting on the hard wood chair. He was fairly certain that if he tried to drink any of his latte it would make him vomit. 

“Of course, sorry.” Jacob quickly apologised, noticing how tense Frank was and finding it hard to relax himself. He had been rehearsing what he was going to say in his head all day, but suddenly he couldn’t remember his speech anymore. 

“So…” Frank slid his latte mug over to himself and let it warm his hands as he gazed at Jacob. “You wanted to talk.” 

Considering how hard Jacob had been trying to get Frank to have a conversation with him he was strangely quiet now he finally had the chance. 

The coffee shop was full of people, old and young alike. It was already dark outside, and with the fresh snowfall it was the perfect setting to go out for coffee after work or college. Most people looked like couples, and when Frank glanced around he blushed to find that he and Jacob probably looked like a couple too… albeit a very tense, silent couple.

“Okay… Are you actually going to talk or can I just go?” Frank asked after a moment, frowning uncertainly at Jacob who quickly snapped out of whatever trance he had fallen into.

“Sorry.” Jacob chuckled softly, shaking his head. “I do want to talk. I’m just thinking of how to uh…” Jacob trailed off and looked around at the different people filling up the coffee shop. “I think this conversation would have been easier somewhere we could be certain no one would over hear.”

“Nu-uh, no way.” Frank scoffed, shaking his head quickly. “We’re talking here or nowhere at all.”

“You really think I’m a demon?” Jacob asked quietly, leaning closer to Frank to try and make sure nobody heard. From the lack of curious looks Jacob guessed they were safe. 

Frank shrugged and nodded, never taking his gaze off Jacob’s face. 

“And do you really think that if I was demon, you’d be safe with me just because we’re in a coffee shop?” Jacob quirked an eyebrow at Frank, shaking his head as if the idea was ludicrous. Frank blushed and scowled.

“Maybe not… But I think even you would be less likely to hurt me with so many people around.” 

“If I was a demon I’d just kill them all too.” Jacob shrugged. 

“No you wouldn’t.” Frank said confidently. “Demon’s aren’t like that.” 

Jacob scoffed. “If that’s what you think then you clearly haven’t met one.” 

Frank frowned in response. “I live with one.” He reminded the black man, but Jacob only smiled delicately back over his coffee mug. 

“No, you live with an incubus.” He retorted, making Frank roll his eyes. 

“Same thing.”

“Oh but they aren’t.” Now Jacob looked concerned. He put his mug down slowly and looked at Frank carefully. His gaze seemed to move from scar to scar, seeking out each visible wound left behind by the tattoos Ava had taken and scrutinising them. 

“And you’re not a demon or an incubus?” Frank asked sceptically, placing his hands in his lap beneath the table with a fierce blush. He wished he had left his scarf on so Jacob wouldn’t be able to see the scars on his neck. He hated people staring at them; most had the good grace to ignore them, but Jacob wasn’t like most people.

“No, I’m not. I would have thought it was obvious I’m not an incubus. You should know the creatures well enough.” It sounded like Jacob was making a dig, but Frank wasn’t going to rise to it. 

“Well you have all the same characteristics of one.” He said a little snappily. Jacob’s face turned to a picture of shock and Frank rose his own eyebrows in response. 

“What do you mean?” Jacob sounded as though he had just been stabbed in the gut. Frank almost felt guilty for what he had said, but he forced the emotion back. Why should he feel bad for only saying what was true? Jacob seemed to bring out the strangest feelings in him. 

“Well you have that same… Magnetism… that demons have.” Frank couldn’t think of any other word for the sexual desire Jacob would suddenly whip up in him whenever their skin touched. 

“Incubi.” Jacob corrected Frank automatically. “And I’ve already told you that I’m not human, that’s why you feel so attracted to me.” Jacob said it as though it was nothing, but his words only made Frank even more bashful. “And with me that feeling will wear off easily enough; incubi only make that sensation stronger the more you see them.” 

“Right.” Frank tried to be interested, but there was only one thing on his mind. “So what are you exactly, if you’re not a human?” He demanded, keeping his voice low enough that he wouldn’t draw the attention of anyone around them. 

“Well… Our kind go by many names…” Jacob spoke slowly, almost thoughtfully. He didn’t seem to notice that Frank was uncomfortable being lumped into the same category as Jacob… whatever that category was… 

“I suppose the most common name for us is an angel, but I really detest that one.” Jacob paused to take a sip of his drink, giving Frank time to soak in what he had just said. 

At first Frank just continued to look at Jacob with an annoyed expression. When it became clear that the man really was expecting him to believe him Frank started to laugh, quietly at first but then louder the longer he was left to do it. 

Jacob slowly put down his mug and gave a long sigh. He waited patiently for Frank to stop laughing, but the human only got worse and worse until he was cackling madly. 

People were starting to look over by then, watching curiously as Frank wrapped his arms around his stomach and laughed and laughed and laughed… 

“Frank…” Jacob said quietly after a moment, looking uneasily at all the people staring before he slowly reached across the table to touch Frank’s arm. 

Immediately Frank stopped laughing, yanking his arm out of Jacob’s grip and glaring at him. His eyes were watering from how hard he had been laughing, but his grin was gone now and in its place was a look of pure rage. 

“Don’t touch me!” Frank hissed, hating the way his skin sparked whenever it came into contact with Jacob. “You really expect me to believe you?” He scoffed, angry that Jacob would even try and convince him of something so ludicrous. 

“Yes.” Jacob looked around to ensure everyone who had been staring at them had gone back to their own conversations. “You believe in demons, why is it so much harder to believe in angels?”

“Because it’s crazy.” Frank responded without hesitation. “Next you’re going to tell me you’re my guardian angel. That God has decided to send me some sort of saviour.” Frank almost started laughing again, as if he was crazy. 

“I don’t know about God.” Jacob said modestly, shrugging. “I’m certainly not a guardian angel… I don’t know if such creatures even exist. Like I said, I detest the term angel. Don’t get me mixed up with religious connotations. It’s only what humans have called us, but we’ve had other names too.” 

“Like what? Gabriel?” Frank snorted, so close to laughing again. It was just so absurd… Jacob was so serious, so sincere… But it was impossible. Frank wouldn’t believe it. He didn’t _want_ to believe it.

Jacob pulled a face at Frank but kept his calm, delicate manner. “No.” He said simply in response to Frank’s sarcastic remark. “But we are often called miracle workers. I prefer that to angels.” 

“Miracle workers.” Frank repeated, his voice full of scorn. “So you perform miracles, do you?”

“Yes. _We_ do.” Jacob frowned, emphasising the point that he believed Frank was an ‘angel’ too. “You saw that for yourself, remember? When you healed my friend.” 

Frank gave a small shudder at the memory, scowling deeply as he shook his head. “I’ve told you before, I didn’t-”

“Yes you did.” Jacob interrupted him before he could finish. “You _know_ you did, you just don’t want to admit it. And I understand Frank, I do. I’ve been through this before as well, the struggle of accepting who you are. We all have.”

“Who’s _we?_ ” Frank demanded, looking around as if he expected someone else to suddenly join them but Jacob only shook his head. 

“The other miracle workers I know.” He said gently, waiting for Frank to look at him again. “I haven’t brought any of them with me today. But I’ve told them about you, they’re all excited to meet you.” 

“What makes you think I’ll ever see them?” Frank asked, starting to feel nervous. Anxiety could creep on him without any warning, and he knew from experience it could escalate rapidly. He wondered if Jacob knew that about him too… 

“I imagine you’ll want someone to train you.” Jacob didn’t seem to have noticed Frank’s sudden nervousness. “Help you understand your powers and things.” 

“I don’t have any powers.” Frank insisted through gritted teeth. 

Jacob sighed heavily and gave Frank an impatient look, his lips pursing. 

“I can prove to you that what I say is true.” He said quietly, glancing around before holding his hand out on the table. “As long as you promise not to cause a scene.” 

Frank scowled at that, opening his mouth to retort but he found himself lost for words. He hadn’t been expecting Jacob to offer proof, and it was too good of a thing to pass up. He hesitated in taking his hand though, his heart rate getting worse and worse until he felt almost breathless. He tried to steady his nerves. He didn’t want to suffer another panic attack, let alone in such a public place. 

“It’s alright.” Jacob whispered, smiling gently at Frank. 

Jacob had a soothing way of speaking, and Frank found himself laying his hand into the other man’s palm almost as if he had been hypnotised. As soon as their skin touched the resulting rush of static over his skin made Frank shiver, but he ground his teeth and forced himself to ignore the pleasure like pulses of electricity in his core. 

Jacob closed his fingers around Frank’s hand and slowly lifted it off the table. He smoothed his thumb over the scar between his thumb and finger where his cobweb had once been tattooed. A look of concentration took over Jacob’s face, he stared intently at the scar and gently ran his thumb over it again and again. All the time he looked at it with brows furrowed and his lips pouted in concentration.

Frank didn’t know whether to look at Jacob’s hands or his face more. He flicked his eyes between the two, feeling more and more uncertain of what was happening until finally Jacob let his hand go with a sigh.   
“Is that it?” Frank asked, breathing a long sigh of relief himself. He had been expecting something more interesting to happen, but it would appear that Jacob had no proof after all. “Well… Thanks for that amazing display, but if that’s all you got for me then I’ll be going.”

Frank turned in his seat to start grabbing his coat and scarf. He felt almost dizzy with relief. Jacob couldn’t prove anything, he was just a crazy guy who knew more about demons that most humans but what did that prove? Frank knew more about demons than most humans too, he just wasn’t stupid enough to go around blabbing about it. 

“Frank.” Jacob’s voice was soft as ever. “Look at your hand.” 

Automatically Frank glanced down at his hand as he grabbed his coat. At first he didn’t notice anything different, but after a second he gasped and the fabric of his coat fell back onto the back of his seat. 

“Oh my God…” Frank turned around slowly and collapsed back into his chair, once more facing Jacob though his eyes were transfixed on his hand. 

Where the scar had been just seconds before there was nothing but smooth, unflawed skin. It looked just as it had before he had even got the tattoo, let alone before Ava cut it away. 

Frank’s other hand was shaking as he lifted it to brush his fingers over the place the scar should have been. The skin was soft and smooth, textured only by the little wrinkles that were stretched out when he spread his fingers. 

Jacob watched patiently as Frank suddenly licked his thumb and then began scrubbing frantically at his hand. He rubbed until the skin went pink, but that was all that happened. Frank could feel the dampness on his skin, could feel the tickle of his fingers brushing over it and the pain when he pinched it. It was really his hand, really his skin.

“How did you…” Frank trailed off, looking slowly up at Jacob with tears in his eyes. He didn’t know why he felt so emotional suddenly. Whether it was joy at seeing the scar gone, or just all the different emotions of coming to accept that what Jacob said was true he didn’t know. 

“That enough of a miracle for you?” Jacob asked delicately, raising his eyebrows at Frank.

“I…” Frank didn’t know what to say. “Can I do that too?”

“Yes.” Jacob smiled, glad that Frank was starting to believe him. “But only on other people. No one really knows why, but none of us can heal ourselves. Only others.” 

“Oh.” Frank felt a crushing disappointment descend over him. He hadn’t even realised he was excited by the prospect of being able to heal himself, but apparently he had. He could have gone home and healed every scar on his body. He could have even gone out and started replacing the tattoos that had been taken from him. It would be like Ava never even existed. 

“You should wear those scars with pride.” Jacob reached across the table to gently touch Frank’s hand, just the merest brush of his fingertips. It was a small touch, but enough to offer comfort, as if he knew what Frank was thinking. 

“I don’t know how you came by those scars, but I can see they were made by an incubus. I can see you have gone through much hardship, and that these scars are a reminder for you.” He whispered, slowly brushing his fingers over the scars on Frank’s knuckles. 

“Hmm… No, these have a woman’s scorn about them. A succubus did this.” Jacob changed his mind, making Frank’s head reel from how accurate he was. Jacob met his gaze and smiled warmly. “Either way, it is important you do not look at these scars as bleak reminders of a painful time. You should see them as proof of your strength to overcome evil.” 

“Is that what you see?” Frank asked sceptically, wanting to sneer over the very idea and yet somehow Jacob’s words helped. 

“Yes.” Jacob’s smile widened, warm and friendly and so very inviting… If he really was an angel or a miracle worker or whatever he wanted to call himself, it would make sense why he seemed to emit such an aura of safety and kindness. Though Frank still found it bizarre than an angel would have such a sexual magnetism.

“You seem to see a lot.” Frank pointed out, his hand still in Jacob’s. 

“I do.” Jacob shrugged like it was nothing. “That happens to our kind with age. As we grow older, we see more. We understand more. Our skills are always growing.” 

“How old are you?” Frank asked curiously. Jacob didn’t look much older than Frank, though he did have the kind of wise eyes you might see on an old man. But his perfect skin and lithe body was that of a man not yet thirty. 

“I am very old.” Jacob chuckled, finally moving his hand away from Frank’s so that he could finish his coffee. “Older than you might believe.” 

“Try me.” Frank challenged, in something of a believing mood all of a sudden. 

“Well…” Jacob started to look nervous, biting his lip and toying with his coffee cup as he hesitated. “If memory serves… I’m around two thousand and seventy years old.” 

Frank gawped at Jacob as if he had gone mad. He had been expecting a large number. Gerard himself claimed to be more than three hundred years old. But _thousands?_

“Seriously?” Frank didn’t think Jacob would lie to him when he was trying to prove to him that he was a miracle worker or angel or whatever. But over _two thousand_ years old? 

Jacob shrugged and nodded, looking almost embarrassed. His age was something of a sore point for him. He didn’t like to admit to it, but he saw no good in lying about it. 

“Two thousand…” Frank could barely say the words, his voice dwindled down to nothing more than a squeak. He wanted to believe Jacob, he felt oddly trusting of the man now that he had healed one of his scars. But even wanting to believe him didn’t make it any easier.

In the end Frank could only accept the number Jacob had given him and not bother questioning it. Though he didn’t believe it as such, he wasn’t going to argue it. 

“Well…” Frank coughed and cleared his throat. “You look good.” 

Jacob laughed then, relaxing and grinning widely at Frank as he chuckled. 

“Thank you.” He snorted, nodding his head modestly at Frank who grinned back. “Luckily for us, we stop aging.” 

Frank rose his eyebrows in surprise. “What, me as well?” He asked. 

“Mhmm.” Jacob nodded, falling serious again. “Once we awaken our powers we no longer age. You stopped aging the day you healed my friend. Even if you decide to not believe anything I have said to you today, and you leave here never to see me again, your immortality will become proof. Maybe you’ll ignore it for ten… fifteen years. But eventually you’ll start to see what I have said is true.” 

“And I can’t change that?” Frank asked softly, immortality the hardest thing for him to believe out of all he had heard. He certainly didn’t feel immortal. He felt just the same as always. 

Jacob shook his head solemnly, as if eternal youth was a bad thing. 

“You can still die.” He spoke gently, careful to ensure no one heard them. The coffee shop was emptying by then, but Jacob was still careful. “People can kill you as they have always been able to. But illness and disease can’t touch you. As I said, you won’t age anymore. Your friends and family will grow old and die, but you won’t join them.” 

Jacob seemed pained by the fact, but Frank was starting to feel excited. He would be young forever, and live forever… just like Gerard. They really could be together for all time. He wondered if Gerard would be just as happy about that as he was. 

“You may fall in love, and have to live long after your love has gone.” Jacob seemed to be talking to himself now, lost in a memory or a thought that gave him great pain, but Frank only grinned. 

“But I won’t. Gerard is immortal too.” He breathed, his heart fluttering at the thought of being with him forever. They could explore the world ten times over. They could watch as humanity changed and the world shifted. All the things that had not been discovered or explained, they would be around for the excitement of new science and new evidence of things not yet known. There was nothing that time would keep from them.

“The incubus?” Jacob’s voice snapped Frank out of his thoughts. “You truly love him that much?” 

“Of course.” Frank frowned, surprised that Jacob couldn’t see it like everything else. “And he loves me too.”

“Incubi are not capable of love.” Jacob spoke as if it was obvious, but Frank only grew angry in response. 

“Gerard is. I know that he loves me.” He said confidently. He knew enough about Gerard’s past, and all that Mikey had told him to know that he was the only one Gerard had ever been faithful to. They had been together for a year, which may not have been the longest relationship ever, but it was enough for Frank to know that neither he nor Gerard were planning on leaving each other. 

Jacob was shaking his head solemnly, but he didn’t say anything else. It was obvious that he thought Frank was a fool, and Frank could clearly see that the man was trying not to persuade him to leave Gerard. He was grateful when Jacob kept his mouth shut, he didn’t want his happiness to get dashed. 

Jacob sighed but forced himself to hold his tongue. He knew that he needed to be careful with Frank. He still had much to tell the man and he needed him on side. To convince him to give up on his poisonous relationship would be necessary eventually, but not now. Not when it had taken him so long to even talk to him properly. 

“It’s getting late.” Jacob eventually sighed, looking around at the near empty coffee shop. “I still have a lot to tell you Frank. And you must have a lot of questions.” 

Frank nodded his agreement, although in all honesty he hadn’t realised how much he wanted to ask until Jacob said that. Now though his mind reeled with hundreds of questions, but Jacob was already starting to put on his coat. 

“Are we leaving?” Frank asked uncertainly, still not trusting enough to go somewhere with Jacob with no notice. 

“We can’t sit here all night. And what I need to tell you next really does require a private space.” Jacob pulled on his gloves and scarf and looked expectantly at Frank. “Will you come with me?”

Frank hesitated, not really knowing what to say. He was tempted… More than tempted to go with Jacob. But as he glanced outside at the dark sky and snow glowing in the light from streetlamps he realised that Gerard would be getting worried about him and that he should just go home. 

“I can’t.” He bit his lip as he got to his feet. He looked uncertainly at Jacob, still wanting to talk to him but he wouldn’t go with him. “I have to go home. Gerard…”

“I understand.” Jacob nodded calmly and pulled a pen from his pocket. “Perhaps its best you’re given some time to let what I’ve told you so far sink in.” Jacob leaned down to use the table, scrawling something onto a napkin. 

“When you are ready to talk some more you can call me.” Jacob handed the napkin over to Frank. He had written his number and his address onto it. “That’s where I live. You can come by any time. I assume you won’t be telling Gerard, so I won’t come by your home anymore. But you come see me whenever you want… it’s important I do see you again.” Jacob looked at Frank with hope in his warm, brown eyes. Frank knew immediately he wouldn’t be able to deny him. 

“I’ll… I’ll think about what you’ve said.” He offered, but it was all he could promise. He wasn’t sure yet if he was going to tell Gerard, nor was he certain he would see Jacob again. He knew deep down he wouldn’t be able to live without getting all of his questions answered, but he hoped he would think sensibly and carefully about the whole thing before arranging another meeting.

Jacob smiled and nodded, offering Frank his hand in a polite handshake. “That’s all I ask.” He smiled, squeezing Frank’s hand gently before letting go. “I hope to see you again soon, Frank.”

“You too.” Frank responded automatically, making himself blush but Jacob only nodded with a smile as warm as his eyes and then he left the coffee shop, disappearing through the snow falling outside.

Frank remained in the coffee shop for a little longer, looking at the napkin Jacob had given him and trying to digest everything. Now that the man was gone Frank was feeling less elated and more uncertain. He had only wanted to have a normal life, but things were getting as further from normal every day. 

Frank stared at the neat, italic writing on the napkin. God, even Jacob’s handwriting was attractive. In the end Frank folded up the paper and put it into his pocket, grabbing his scarf and gloves and pulling them on quickly to get home. He would tell Gerard he had had to work late, and give himself just a little more time to think about what he had learned.


	5. War crimes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all,   
> I'm so sorry that this chapter took like three billion years to come out. Working in the public sector means I have had zero days off in like ages, and time has been a teensy bit strapped. I was desperate to get this out before Christmas though so this counts right? crryy  
> You may have also noticed that I haven't been responding to comments as much (or at all, really) like I usually do. I am gonna have to say though that I just can't respond to comments at the minute, I just dont have the time. But please trust I do appreciate every word that comes my way so much, and I thank you all.   
> Any-freakin-way. I hope you all have a good Christmas if you celebrate it, and hopefully in January I will have a few less hours to work so the next chapter wont take so long (hopefully hopefully hopefully).   
> Much love and holiday kisses!

Frank stared in the mirror at his scars and tried again.

He laid his fingers over the ‘H’ scar of his Halloween tattoo. Maybe if he just started off small…

Frank concentrated hard, focusing on the finger he had laid over the scar. He gave a little rub and concentrated harder, his brow furrowing. He imagined the skin healing, knitting back together and smoothing out until it was as soft and flawless as the day he was born. He tried to will the cells to heal with his mind, trying hard… harder… harder… _harder_ …

Frank moved his finger away and released a long, disappointed sigh. 

It didn’t matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t heal the scar. He couldn’t heal _any_ of the scars, just like Jacob had said he couldn’t. Frank couldn’t help but try though.

Despite Jacob having told Frank he should feel proud when he saw his scars, they still brought him nothing but dismay. When he saw them he just saw Ava. He saw himself huddled in the pink bedroom she had chained him in, losing his own mind and he saw Eicca… Eicca with his soft black curls and haunting eyes. 

Frank huffed to himself and shook his head, looking into the mirror again. His eyes were deeply shadowed and it was clear that he was tired, and yet there was still a sparkle of life about him. He was trying to see a sign of his immortality but his reflection offered him nothing. He still looked the same as he always did. Perhaps a little brighter, a little more wide eyed… But still just Frank. Still just human.

Frank turned and made his way back into the bedroom he and Gerard shared. He had a small radio on the bedside table and he turned it on as he passed by, hoping some music would take him out of his thoughts. 

It had been only three days since he had last seen Jacob, but it felt like longer. He was already desperate to see the man again and get more of his questions answered. He had spent the past three days trying to convince himself that Jacob was a liar, but he couldn’t keep pretending like that when he was trying to heal his own scars. It was obvious he believed the man, as much as he didn’t want to.

The napkin with Jacob’s details on was still in the pocket of Frank’s jeans. He took it out after getting into the denims and unfolded it on top of a chest of drawers. He stared at the phone number for a long while, tracing his fingertip over the neat, italic script… The number… The name… _Jacob_. 

_Earth Angel… Earth Angel… Will you be mine?_

The song on the radio suddenly struck Frank’s attention and he turned around slowly to look at it, his face set and silent as he listened to The Penguins.

_My darling dear, love you all the time…_

“I’m just a fool…” Frank sang softly, under his breath. “A fool in love… with you…” 

Frank turned back to the drawers and scooped up the napkin, thrusting it back into his pocket. He strode across the room to the wardrobe to pick out some clothes, opening the door and pausing to stare at his reflection in the mirror hanging on the other side. He turned slowly, frowning as he looked over his shoulder at the image of his back reflected in the glass. First he looked at the large, rippled skin of his Jack o’ lantern scar; and then he looked above it at the tattoo that Ava had not touched. 

_Keep the Faith_

He knew what he should do.

 

Gerard smirked at Frank… Only slightly at first, but then more and more as he was given some time to digest what Frank had just said to him. His eyes sparkled with amusement and soon it was all he could do to stop himself from laughing. 

“You… Are actually serious?” He asked slowly, struggling to keep his chuckling to himself. “This guy _really_ said this to you?”

“Uhuh.” Frank nodded, worrying his thumb nail between his teeth. “He seriously did.” 

“And you… You don’t honestly believe him?” Gerard laughed then, he just couldn’t stop himself. It was so ridiculous it could only be a joke. At first he had been angry to hear that Frank had been meeting with the man who had come to their house, but now all of his anger had been replaced with mirth.

Frank shifted uneasily in his seat, biting and tearing at his thumbnail until it bled. He had expected Gerard to be angry or upset, but not amused. It was clear that the demon didn’t believe him, which only made Frank’s stomach roil even more. He had been hoping that telling Gerard the truth would help him decide what to do. Gerard had been around for centuries, he must have an idea of what kind of creature Jacob really was. 

“Frank!” Gerard suddenly gasped, falling serious and practically choking on his laughter. “Wait, you _don’t_ believe him… Do you?” He demanded, his eyes widening in shock. Frank only looked at him with a timid, guilty expression.

“I don’t know.” He offered meekly, still biting at his nail. “He’s not human, I’m sure of that. He healed my scar, look!” Frank held his hand out for Gerard to examine. 

Gerard scoffed and took Frank’s hand in his, inspecting the space where his scar had once been and furrowing his brows. There was no trace of humour on his face anymore, the anger Frank had originally been expecting seemed to have come back. 

“He did this?” Gerard ran his thumb slowly over the smooth skin where the scar should have been, worry starting to niggle at him. He had never heard of a creature that could heal before; at least, not outside of myths and folktales. He had certainly never come across any creatures other than humans and demons like himself, though demons were rare to come by. The thought of Jacob healing Frank made him feel sick to the stomach.

“He said I can do it too.” Frank whispered, gazing at Gerard with anxious eyes. “Not to myself, but to other people… He said I healed that biker.” 

Gerard looked up at Frank with scepticism written all over his handsome face. He quirked an eyebrow and slowly released his lovers hand, shaking his head. He wanted to insist it was impossible, but something stopped him. Frank’s scar really had gone, he couldn’t deny that. And if that was possible, maybe Frank _could_ heal others, though how he wouldn’t guess.

“He says you’re an angel?” Gerard _did_ find that hard to believe. 

“And immortal.” Frank nodded. “He said once I healed that guy I stopped aging. He says I’ll live forever… Like you.” Frank whispered the last words, almost afraid to say them. He couldn’t help but secretly hope it was true, just so that he could have eternity with Gerard. But if the demon shared his wishes, he didn’t show it. 

“Frank.” Gerard’s tone changed, taking on a clear authoritative edge. “You are never to see this man again, is that understood?” 

“What!?” Frank sat up straighter in shock, staring at Gerard like he had gone crazy. The older man’s tone had left no room for argument, but Frank was astounded. “Why not?” 

“Why not?” Gerard repeated, scoffing as if the answer was obvious. “Because he’s dangerous, that’s why not. There is no such thing as angels, and I don’t want to find out what this man really is.” Gerard’s eyes had started to change colour, turning black as if ink was spreading out of his pupils and into his iris. Frank usually wouldn’t have dared to question him when that happened, but he couldn’t stop himself. 

“How do you know?” He demanded, hoping his sounded stronger than he felt. “If you don’t know what he is, then why can’t he be an angel?” 

“Because they don’t exist!” Gerard repeated, louder this time. “I have lived for three centuries and I have never seen any real sign of a heaven _or_ a hell. There is NO God, and so there can not be angels!” Gerard’s eyes were blazing black by then and Frank didn’t dare say anything else. 

Hell was a touchy subject for Gerard. Mikey had explained to Frank once how Gerard had constantly struggled with what they were. He called himself demon. He called himself a monster… And yet he knew nothing of their origins or how they came to be what they were. There had been a time when he had been obsessed with religious explanations as to what he was… but with no proof to be found he had given up on his dream of ever finding redemption.

Gerard was convinced he was damned to a hell he claimed he didn’t believe in.

For a long while Frank just gazed at his lover, waiting until the black mist left Gerard’s eyes and he relaxed. He remained silent for another minute, watching Gerard watching him and summoning up his courage before he spoke again.

“I’m going to call him.” 

“No.” Gerard kept his voice soft but it was deadly all the same. 

“Yes.” Frank insisted, clenching his fists on top of the table. “I want to know the truth… I want to know what else he wants to tell me.” 

“I said _no_.” Gerard growled, his whole body going dangerously still. “I forbid it.”

“You don’t control me.” Frank scoffed, feeling a stab in his chest over Gerard’s words. “I can do whatever I want. This is huge for me Gerard, I need you to support me. If Jacob is dangerous like you say then you should be there for me.” 

“No.” Gerard repeated, shaking his head slowly. 

“Please Gerard…” Frank whispered, getting up and walking across the room to Gerard’s end of the table. He crouched down beside his chair, laying a hand on his knee and looking up at him. His heart was racing and it even hurt, as if it was breaking. He had told Gerard the truth because he needed his support… He didn’t think he had the strength to see Jacob again without Gerard beside him.

“Gee…” Frank mewled, leaning closer and closer to Gerard. “Please baby… I need you to protect me-”

“Like I did with Ava?” Gerard suddenly snapped, his head whipping around to look at Frank. His eyes had turned into two black coals and his body was so tense he looked like he might cave in on himself. 

Frank opened his mouth and then slowly closed it again, his heart jumping in his throat. He had never seen Gerard look like this before and his immediate thought was that he needed to get away and call Mikey. He felt frozen to the spot though, paralysed by Gerard’s stare. 

“Look how amazing I was that.” Gerard’s voice was like a growl, a deep, deadly rumble in his chest. He had gone so still it didn’t even look like he was breathing anymore, although his nails had started to dig into the wood of the table where he had planted them firmly. 

“Y - You were amazing…” Frank croaked, barely able to speak. “You killed her.” 

“Damn right I killed her.” Gerard’s voice seemed warped. For the first time since he had met him Frank really did sound like a demon. “I tore her head off,” Gerard continued darkly, his eyes boring into Frank’s. “I cut through her neck with a cleaver and took you away from her… But still she managed to scar you.” 

Frank flinched, automatically moving his free hand to touch the side of his neck where his scorpion had been. He had felt self conscious about his scars from the first day he had been able to think clearly again, but Gerard had never made a sign that he despised them too. 

“No, not there.” Gerard snarled, moving one of his hands off the table and leaving a line of claw marks in its wake. “ _Here_.” Gerard touched a fingertip to Frank’s chest, making his heart skip multiple beats.

Frank didn’t need Gerard to explain what he meant. Ava _had_ scarred him internally. All the hallucinations, the panic attacks, the therapy and long, sleepless nights… Frank was still trying to heal from the psychological damage and half the time he wasn’t sure he ever would completely heal. 

“I was meant to protect you… If I’m as good at protecting you from this Jacob as I was with Ava, then you won’t survive long.” 

Frank scowled at Gerard’s words and jumped to his feet. He could feel tears hot and painful in his eyes. Gerard’s eyes were still black and his body still tense, but he let Frank go when he turned and ran from the kitchen.

Frank grabbed his coat as he ran through the hall, Gerard’s deep, demonic voice still ringing in his ears as he wrenched open the cottage door and stepped outside. He ran through the snow, down the garden path and all the way to the end of the road before he slowed to a walk and let go the sob building in his chest. 

He understood that Gerard felt as though he hadn’t been able to protect Frank from Ava, and that he wanted him to stay away from Jacob because he was afraid. He knew that Gerard had meant that he felt as though he was the one to blame for the way Frank was… So why did Frank feel like the one who had failed? 

 

When Jacob opened the door the smile that was on his face quickly disappeared. Frank was stood in the snow, tears practically frozen on his cheeks. A fierce wind was howling round the building that Jacob lived in, screaming like a lost soul and blowing snowflakes into Frank’s face.

“Frank, come in.” Jacob stood aside quickly and ushered Frank through the door, taking his coat off him and guiding him straight through to the living room where a log fire was burning. 

Jacob’s home was large but modestly furnished. The living room boasted only a small television, three long wooden seats with animal furs in the place of cushions and a christmas tree decorated with simple wooden ornaments. The fireplace was large and ornate, it dominated the space and filled the room with heat.

“A weather warning is in place for tonight, you shouldn’t have walked here in this snow.” Jacob whipped a wolf fur off of one of the seats and lay it on the floor in front of the fire. He motioned for Frank to sit which the younger man did gratefully, huddling his knees to his chest and shivering as the fires warmth soaked into his skin.

“I d-didn’t have m-much choice…” Frank spoke through chattering teeth. “I t-told Gerard about what y-you said… We’ve had a f-fight.” 

“I am sorry.” Jacob’s eyes were large and honest and Frank found he completely believed him. Gerard was wrong to think he was a liar, he could easily see that Jacob was ernest. 

“It d-doesn’t even matter... “ Frank sighed, rubbing the tops of his arms and turning his face away for a moment. His brows knitted together in a deep frown and for a moment he got lost in his own thoughts until Jacob had to touch his shoulder to bring him back into the room. 

Frank jumped in shock when Jacob touched him, but he quickly relaxed and forced a tight smile. Jacob had knelt next to him and his face was close. He smiled back at Frank, gentle and serene. 

“Let me get you a hot drink, you’re frozen half to death.” Jacob rose gracefully to his feet and disappeared out of the room, leaving Frank alone for a few minutes.

Frank sighed and lay his head down on his knees, closing his eyes for a moment. When he had walked out of the house he had been unsure as to where to go. The cold outside had been biting even with his winter coat, and he knew he should just go home. He wanted Gerard time to calm down though, deep down… He had been frightened by him. Even now he couldn’t get the sight of his demonic eyes out of his mind, or the way his voice had sounded when it had warped in his throat. 

Frank had considered just jumping on a train and heading to the city to get Mikey. If anyone knew how to handle Gerard then it was his brother. But somehow Frank had found himself walking to the address Jacob had written on the napkin, and now that he was sitting in front of such a welcoming fire Frank had to believe he had done the right thing. 

When Jacob returned he handed Frank a mulled wine glass full of a steaming, golden liquid. Frank thanked him softly and took a delicate sip. 

“Wow…” He sighed, some of the tension in his body melting away as the drink warmed him from the inside. It left a burning sensation in his throat, more welcome than it had any right to be. “What is this?”

“It’s hot honey wine.” Jacob smiled, sitting opposite Frank on the wolf fur. “I spice it myself with cinnamon and cloves. It’s an old recipe.” 

Jacob’s eyes held a certain kind of sparkle as he smiled at Frank. It was a good spark, as gold and warm as the honey wine. He looked at Frank as if he were an old friend, making him feel more welcome and wanted than he even felt in his own home sometimes. 

Frank smiled weakly back, keeping silent as he drank his wine. He felt better with every sip, he was finally beginning to stop shivering and actually relax into the fur. He drank a whole glass of wine and had had it refilled before another word was said. 

“So, this argument with Gerard… What happened exactly?” Jacob eventually asked, sipping his own wine delicately. 

Frank looked at Jacob with a small frown, his stomach churning as he remembered the way Gerard had looked. He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again, hesitating until it looked like he wasn’t going to say anything at all. He couldn’t help but think of how angry Gerard would be if he knew where he was, he certainly wouldn’t want him to telling anyone about their argument least of all Jacob… But who else could he turn to?

“He said I shouldn’t trust you.” Frank eventually spoke, quiet and slow. “He thinks you’re dangerous, and that I should stay away from you. He doesn’t believe that you’re an angel… He said angels don’t exist.” Frank tried to look at Jacob with some scepticism, but it was clear he had already made up his own mind about him. He believed everything Jacob said. 

“What makes him so sure about that?” Jacob asked calmly. 

“He’s been alive for three centuries.” Frank shrugged. “And he said he’s never had any sign that any God or heaven exists.” 

“Neither have I.” Jacob smiled, shrugging one shoulder casually. “And I’ve been alive for two millennia.” 

Frank smirked a little, relaxing even more as he sipped his wine and Jacob grinned at him. He felt as though they were sharing a private joke, but he didn’t actually know what the joke was. 

“I hope you don’t think that we are angels in a religious sense. Like I said to you before, I detest the term angel in itself.” 

“I remember.” Frank assured him, nodding his head. “I did explain that to him. And I showed him my hand you healed, but it just made him more afraid.” Frank looked down into his wine glass and bit his lip, feeling a wave of sadness wash over him. He loved Gerard more than anything and already he was missing him. He wanted to go back home and make amends with him, but he was frightened too… Frightened of Gerard. 

“Is that what he is?” Jacob asked gently, sitting opposite Frank, his legs tucked under himself. “He’s frightened?”

“I think so.” Frank nodded, still staring at his wine. “He doesn’t know what you are and that scares him. I think that’s why he got so angry. He just wants me to stay away from you and we can pretend I never met you and forget all you’ve told me.” Frank looked at Jacob then, wondering how the other man would take it but he looked as serene as ever. 

“Even if you were to avoid me, you’ve unlocked your power now Frank. No matter what happens now you are still immortal. You are still ageless. That is not something you can just ignore.” Jacob wasn’t convinced Frank had taken in the full meaning of that fact yet. The man was certainly not freaking out like most people did when they heard they would never die a natural death. Frank acted as though it was no surprise at all. 

“I know.” Frank shrugged, like it was nothing. “I don’t want to avoid you anyway. You said you had some more to tell me, you said you were going to teach me how to use my powers.” Frank blushed, his words sounding ridiculous to his own ears. It was like a comic book superhero, but he didn’t know how else to describe the changes in him. 

Jacob only smiled back, his eyes as understanding as ever. “Learning how to use your powers is something that will take time. Many things I can do y ou will not be able to do until many years have passed. Healing is the first skill though, and that is really quite simple. Do you know why you were able to heal my friend that day?” Jacob asked, tipping his head to the side. 

“No.” Frank admitted, worrying his lip between his teeth for a moment. “I wasn’t even trying. I was just… panicking.” 

“Hmm…” Jacob pursed his lips to the side and cocked his head slightly. “Yes…” He said slowly, agreeing with Frank but thinking still. “Yes, you were panicking. And in a way thats why you were able to save him…” Jacob sighed, trying to think of the best way to explain where their healing power came from. 

“The reason you could heal him, was because you were so _desperate_ for him to survive. Everything inside you wanted him to live more than _anything_ , because you knew if he didn’t you would not be able to handle it. You have a broken spirit Frank.” Jacob leant forward to gently lay his hand on Frank’s knee. “I may not know your story, but I can see that something has caused you great suffering. And should my friend have died that day your soul would have been torn apart. A spirit is a hard thing to heal, and whatever it is inside us that gives us our abilities _knew_ that if my friend had died you would never have recovered from it.” 

Jacob slowly slid his hand away from Frank’s knee, gazing at him with a soft, knowledgeable smile. “You saved my friend because if you had not, you would have ended up in a state worse than death. You had no choice but to heal him, because if you hadn’t you would have suffered eternally. And so you unlocked your abilities and you saved him.” 

Jacob sat back with a grin, speaking as though it was all so simple. Frank on the other hand was speechless, not sure how to respond. 

“So… Whenever I want to heal someone I just… Have to…” 

“You just have to want it.” Jacob shrugged, putting his mulled wine glass to the side so that he could rest back on his elbows. “As time goes on you will learn to tap into the… switch, I suppose, that allows you to heal. But until you come to understand what it is inside you that lets you heal, simply wanting it is enough. And trust me Frank, when you are in a situation where someone’s life depends on you healing them, you _will_ want it enough.” 

“You sound so sure of that.” Frank smirked, impressed and a little surprised that Jacob would have so much faith in him already. 

“You’re a good person Frank.” Jacob said confidently, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees and be a little closer to Frank. “That much is obvious to me. It’s why I tried so hard to make contact with you.” 

“Why?” Frank asked, his voice dropping quiet. His heart had started to beat a little faster and the light in the room seemed to have dimmed. He didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but it seemed like Jacob was getting on to something very important. 

“Because I need more men like you. _Good_ men, good healers.” Jacob shuffled forward more on the rug, closing the gap between him and Frank some more until their crossed legs were nearly touching. 

“What for?” Frank knew that Jacob was about to tell him something huge, something secret. He barely dared to breathe in case he missed anything. 

“That’s what I need to talk to you about. When I told you there was much more to be said, this is it… But it is a dark conversation. Perhaps one you won’t want to hear when you have had a bad day.” Jacob went to lean back and automatically Frank shot his hand forward. His fingers only brushed over Jacob’s shirt but it was enough, the dark skinned man leaned forward again. 

“I want to hear now.” Frank insisted through a whisper. “I just want to understand everything finally. Whatever there is left to tell me, do it now.” 

It wasn’t like Frank would be able to leave any time soon anyway. The weather outside was only getting worse, the snow building up against the walls and doors and on the window frames. Frank supposed he would probably have to stay the night, there would be no better time to have the conversation.

Jacob seemed to be thinking the same thing. He glanced outside the window for a moment before resigning himself to the task at hand. He met Frank’s gaze and took a deep breath, nodding to show he was ready. He had to think for a little while longer though, before he began to speak.

“There is a war going on Frank.” He finally whispered, just those words alone seeming to sap some of the strength from him. “It is a war which has been going on for centuries, but for the first time it has reached a peak where I fear something is going to have to give.” 

“What?” Frank frowned, already confused. “A war?” There was always a war going on somewhere about something, but Frank got the feeling Jacob wasn’t talking about any wars he might have known about. 

“Do you remember that I told you that Gerard is not a demon?” 

“Yeah…” Frank frowned, even more confused by the seemingly irrelevant question. “You said he’s just an incubus, not a demon.”

“That’s right. Demons themselves are entirely different.” Jacob was beginning to look anxious, and that made Frank even more nervous. “You don’t know the first thing about demons, and I don’t mean that cruelly. I’m just being honest with you Frank. First you have to understand that there are such things as demons out there, and many lesser demons walk this Earth just like you and I do.” 

“Okay…” Frank nodded, not sure he did really understand but he wanted Jacob to continue. He was feeling a little breathless, full of so many questions but wanting to hear all Jacob had to say first. “So this war…”

“This war is a secret war.” Jacob picked restlessly at his jeans, but he kept his eyes on Frank and despite his clear nerves he still looked relatively calm. “Us miracle workers, and demons have always been enemies. Not even I know how the rivalry began, but in the past one hundred years demons have began to rally together - something which has never happened before.

“They were called to arms by a creature who calls himself Baal. He has been slowly grouping the demons into one unit, giving them all a common purpose to fight for.”

“What purpose?” Frank asked curiously, his eyes wide from what he had heard so far. 

“Baal believes that he knows how to summon Satan.” Jacob wrinkled his nose up, clearly disgusted by the notion. “He ‘trains’ these demons in how to do Satan’s will. You’ve probably heard hundreds of horror stories of people slaughtering children and animals for Satan, most times these humans are in fact demons. Followers of Baal.” 

“But I thought you said you’ve never seen any sign of heaven or hell.” Frank squeaked, terrified by the prospect of Satan being a real thing. Jacob only shook his head though, waving his hand flippantly. 

“I do not know whether heaven, hell, God or Satan exist. But I stand by that I have never seen a sign of them. It is not Satan I fear.” Jacob got to his feet then, growing so restless that he began to pace the room. 

“We miracle workers have always tried to limit the damage these demons are doing to humans, but now the problem is escalating. Baal is planning a huge ceremony to summon Satan to the Earth. Whilst I don’t fear Satan, I do fear they may summon something else.” 

“Something else?” Frank repeated quietly, liking the sound of that about as much as he liked the sound of summoning Satan. “What?”

“There are different types of demons.” Jacob sighed, running a hand through his short, dark hair and glancing at Frank. “They have many names just like we do, but I always call them lesser and higher demons. Lesser demons are weaker and live amongst us. Higher demons are from an entirely different plane of existence.” 

Jacob stopped pacing so that he could sit down opposite Frank again, touching his hand and looking at him intently to make sure he was paying attention. 

“Higher demons are the most powerful creatures I know to exist. They rarely trouble themselves in the affairs of our plane, but sometimes it is possible to tempt them into meddling…” Jacob trailed off for a second, considering his words carefully before he continued. 

“Higher demons are arrogant. They are quick to jealousy, quick to rage and lust after worship. They are not Gods, but they would have you believe they were. Anyone, human or otherwise, who has managed to contact one of these creatures has never had anything good come of it. 

“It is my belief that if Baal manages to organise this ceremony he is planning he may indeed summon up a higher demon, one powerful enough to claim that it is Satan. The demon will want to be worshipped like the Devil and will do all in it’s power to convince Baal and his followers that it is Lucifer. It will do their bidding, whatever that may be, but only for a time.

“Higher demons grow restless very quickly. Even if they are admired and feared like a God in the end it is never enough. They always want more, more, more. Eventually, the demon will grow tired of performing magic tricks for Baal and will demand more things in return. I don’t know what… Temples maybe, or more sacrifice. Either way, Baal has no hope of controlling the creature and once the demon grows frustrated enough it will punish Baal for his insolence by destroying all he desires… And Baal desires only one thing. The Earth itself.” 

“So you think that if a higher demon gets summoned then… The whole world will die?” Frank asked slowly, just to confirm he really had understood all that Jacob had said. 

“Exactly.” Jacob nodded sincerely, looking at Frank with hopeful eyes. 

It all sounded completely ridiculous and so far fetched it was almost funny. Frank was trying to take it all in but it was proving difficult to digest. 

“So… This war, what does it have to do with me exactly?” He asked eventually, his mind still trying to chew over everything. 

“Well… Before Baal, the lesser demons were scattered and mostly lived alone or in small groups. Now they have a leader they are stronger than ever. The only hope of stopping them now is for us miracle workers to group together too.” 

Frank rose his eyebrows in surprise, finally starting to understand what Jacob was planning, and why he said he needed him. 

“I have been grouping us together for some time now,” Jacob continued, starting to look hopeful again, “It is difficult though, it’s not like I can just broadcast an advert asking for everyone like us to come forward. I have had to discover each person, as I discovered you.” Jacob smiled warmly, squeezing Frank’s hand. “We are growing in numbers though, and time to act is growing short. I must ask you to join us.” 

“Join you?” Frank’s head was really spinning by then. “Christ, Jacob. I don’t know… I don’t even really understand what you mean when you say that. What does joining you entail exactly?” Frank was starting to feel frightened by then. He had only ever wanted to live a normal life, he was never meant to end up like this. 

“It just means you will agree to help us fight these demons… I know this is a lot to take in.” Jacob was fully calm again by then, smiling tenderly at Frank. “I don’t expect an answer now. And believe me, I will not force you into anything. You are free to leave right now if you wish, though I hope you will stay here at least until this weather subsides. You can even refuse to join our fight, but still wish to be friends. Whatever you do next is all up to you, I only wanted to tell you the truth, and let you decide from there.” 

Frank nodded weakly and pulled his hand away from Jacobs. His heart was racing erratically and he felt sick. He looked away from Jacob and into the fire for a second, wondering how demons powerful enough to destroy the whole world could exist if hell didn’t. 

“Frank…” Jacob’s voice seemed to come from far away. “Frank, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Frank whispered, watching the flames flicker and dance. “I just need a second.” It was a lie though, Frank didn’t want just a second. He wanted a lifetime… A normal lifetime, with no demons, angels, not even Gerard. He wanted to run far away and hide where no one would ever find him, but he was stuck. 

Frank couldn’t leave. He could never run away. Ava had left him with scars so that he could never forget, and Gerard had left him with a caged heart, that would never love anyone but him. Frank had to stay, for love he had to stay.


	6. Blizzards

Snow had fallen heavy all night and most of the morning. The world was white over and the streets were filled with children, bundled in hats and scarves, playing in the fine white powder. Gerard had been a little worried that the trains would be cancelled, or at least delayed, but public transport was proving to be defiant despite the weather. 

Gerard had sat up all night, just watching the snow fall out the window and waiting for Frank to appear at the end of the road. He had been unable to sleep, too worried about Frank and sick after their argument. At first he had felt upset with himself; he had tried to call Frank numerous times and had left several text messages apologising, but his lover had ignored them all. 

By the time the morning came Gerard had realised that Frank wasn’t coming home. If he were just walking around in the snow like Gerard had originally thought they would have been home by then; back in the warmth and in Gerard’s arms. The fact that he hadn’t returned told Gerard that he must be in some sort of shelter, and it soon became obvious where that would be. 

If Gerard had had any inkling as to where Jacob lived he would have been out in the snow finding him right then. He wanted nothing more than to rip the guy to pieces and drag Frank home. He could only imagine what nonsense he was filling Frank’s head with right then… He could only hope he wasn’t actually hurting him. 

Gerard sighed and ran a hand through his hair, checking his phone for the hundredth time since getting on the train, but there was still no response from Frank. Gerard couldn’t stop the sudden surge of panic that rose up inside him, but he pushed it down like he had been doing all morning. For all he knew Frank could be dead, or wishing he was… Who knew what Jacob was capable of and what he might be doing to him? Gerard kept thinking back to Ava, of how messed up she had made Frank and how desperately he had fought to save him. Jacob could be torturing Frank right then and Gerard was just sitting on a train.

Deep down Gerard knew that Frank was safe though. He wasn’t sure how he knew it, he just knew that he wouldn’t be on his way to Mikey’s if he really thought that Frank was in danger. It was almost as if he wanted to believe Jacob was bad news just so he could hate him, but that in reality his instincts told him that Frank was right… Jacob was a good guy. 

Gerard scowled and shoved his phone back into his pocket, feeling sicker than ever. He turned his head to look out of the train window at the scenery going by. The world outside was white and grey, the sky heavy with more, unfallen snow. It would be another few inches deeper come the night he was certain. 

When Gerard stepped onto the platform in New York it was to find Mikey waiting for him. He was surprised at first, he had almost forgotten the connection he and his brother shared, but then he remembered all the other times Mikey would appear when he needed him and he sighed with relief. 

“Is it you causing all this snow?” Mikey asked with a grin when Gerard approached him, embracing him as soon as he was quick enough. “I could feel your stress for the past hour. Trouble in paradise?” 

“You have no idea.” Gerard scoffed, resting his head on Mikey’s shoulder for a moment. It felt good to be in his arms again. There was only one person in the whole world who had never let him down and that was Mikey. “Thanks for meeting me, can we go to yours?” 

“Course.” Mikey smiled warmly at Gerard as they pulled apart from each other. 

He led the way off the platform and out of the train station, talking to him about Daisy and how their wedding preparations were going to pass the time. They took a cab back to Mikey’s apartment, saying very little and mostly just looking out of the windows. A few flurries of snow had started to come down again and Gerard just couldn’t stop himself from thinking of Frank.

Once they reached the apartment and had stripped out of their coats and scarves, Mikey grabbed a bottle of wine and led the way into the living room. He sat down beside Gerard on the couch, the two brothers angling their bodies so that they were still facing each other. They said nothing as Mikey poured the deep red wine into two glasses, handing one to Gerard and keeping one for himself. They both took a sip, commented on the taste and then finally got to business. 

“So. What’s up?” Mikey still had an amused look on his face, he clearly didn’t believe that Gerard could be worrying about anything serious. Mikey knew how crazy in love Gerard was, and he also knew how it could bring out the worst in Gerard. He suspected that whatever had caused Frank and Gerard to fall out, because that was clearly what had happened, was something so small that it could be easily solved.

“I don’t even know where to begin.” Gerard sighed, taking a large sip of his wine. He felt better already just being in Mikey’s company, but he was still certain that the only way to fix everything was to get Jacob well and truly out of the picture. He was willing to see if Mikey had any better ideas though. 

“Well, its obvious you and Frank had have an argument.” Mikey noted, still smirking. “Tell me what that was about.”

“I still don’t know where to begin.” Gerard scoffed, running a hand through his hair and taking a deep breath. He considered for a moment before starting with the day Frank had come home from work and had the panic attack. He explained about the biker who had crashed and who seemed to make a miraculous recovery in front of Frank’s eyes. And then he told Mikey about Jacob… How he had stalked Frank, insisted on meeting him and all he had told him in the coffee shop. 

“He told him that he’s an _angel_. He said that he can heal people and that Frank can do it too. Like some sort of Jesus or something.” By then Mikey’s face had gone serious, which only made Gerard more anxious as he looked at him. 

“I told Frank that that’s ridiculous, that there’s no such things as angels. I mean, this Jacob guy even claims that Frank is immortal now. He healed one of his scars too as proof that what he says is true. Frank’s been completely suckered in by it. When he told me it was obvious he wanted to see Jacob again and hear more of what he has to say. I tried to tell him no but it just ended in us arguing and now he’s been gone since yesterday afternoon.” 

“I see…” Mikey frowned thoughtfully, resting his fingertips beneath his lower lip. “You’re certain that this Jacob guy is lying?” He asked softly, looking at Gerard innocently when his brother spluttered angrily. 

“What!? Of course he’s lying, you know there’s no such thing as angels!” He protested loudly, amazed that Mikey would even have to ask. The younger of the two only shrugged, looking calmly at Gerard as he swirled his wine around the glass. 

“I don’t _know_ that there’s no such thing.” He said quietly, shrugging. “I only know that I haven’t met one if they do exist… But you’ve got to wonder, what reason would this guy have for lying? And if he _is_ lying, then what is he? I don’t know of anyone who can heal wounds and know about creatures like us.” 

“Maybe because he _is_ one of us.” Gerard suggested, as if it was obvious. 

“I don’t think so.” Mikey responded without even needing to think about it. He smirked when he saw how irritated he had made Gerard and pushed on to explain. “If you really thought that Jacob was one of us you wouldn’t be here right now. You’d be driving yourself crazy trying to find Frank like when he went with Ava.”

Gerard scowled at Mikey, hating to admit that his brother was right but of course Mikey knew best… as always. 

“So, if you don’t think that Jacob is one of us, but you don’t believe he’s an angel either, what do you think he really is?” Mikey asked innocently, still smirking at Gerard from over his wine glass. 

“Well I…” Gerard faltered, frowning and struggling to think of an answer. Honestly, he didn’t know what he thought Jacob was. He just knew he didn’t like him. But Mikey was right, Gerard wouldn’t risk Frank being hurt. If he really thought he was in danger, he wouldn’t be in the city. 

“Look, I admit I never would have imagined angels could exist. But if this guy is saying Frank is one well… If anyone merits being called an angel, its Frankie, right?” Mikey smiled warmly at Gerard, leaning forward to touch his hand gently. “You love him. And here I thought you would never be able to fall in love. Frank has brought out the best in you, but the worst too… I think you’re just jealous Gee. You don’t like having any other guy spending time with Frank and that’s why you don’t want him to see Jacob again.” 

“That’s ridiculous.” Gerard scoffed, blushing fiercely. “Frank spends time with other guys all the time. I don’t get jealous.” 

“No, Frank goes to work.” Mikey smirked, shaking his head. “But you’re the one he spends his spare time with him. And you and I both know that if Jacob is offering to teach Frank about himself, they’ll be needing to spend a lot of time together. And its just natural they would form a strong bond… If you and I had had a mentor when we first discovered what we were we would have bonded with them.” Mikey shrugged like it was nothing and topped both his and Gerard’s glasses with more wine. 

“Face it Gerard. You love Frank so much, and for the first time in your life you’ve got something to lose, and that frightens you.” Mikey gazed intently at Gerard as he drank from his glass and savoured the sweetness of the wine burning down his throat. 

Gerard just sat still, staring back at Mikey with his mouth tight shut. He didn’t have anything he could say in return. Mikey was right, as much as he hated it, and he didn’t know how to respond. 

“Gerard, listen.” Mikey put his wine glass down onto the coffee table and then moved closer to Gerard, taking his glass from him as well so that he could hold both his hands. “You need to trust Frank… You two love each other, he would never betray you.” 

“It’s not Frank I don’t trust.” Gerard scowled, trying to pull his hands away but Mikey held tight. “It’s Jacob.”

“Why?” Mikey asked, cocking his head to the side. “Because you don’t know him? Maybe if you did as Frank asked and went with him to meet him it would put your mind at ease.” Mikey smiled and lifted a hand to gently cup the side of Gerard’s face, sweeping his thumb along his cheek. “Besides, you shouldn’t assume that every guy Frank meets wants to fuck him.” 

“I don’t assume that.” Gerard scoffed, shrugging away from Mikey’s touch. “Anyway, I just don’t understand why Frank even wants to see this guy again. He and I both agreed we just want a normal life together. Frank can’t take any more supernatural shit happening, and Jacob is just promising a whole new world of it.” 

“The thing is Gee, if Frank is what Jacob says he is he doesn’t have much choice but to accept it.” Mikey sighed, touching Gerard’s hand again. “I understand why he wants a normal life, Christ, of course I understand that. Which is why it’s so important that you support him through all of this. He probably just wants to know he has you on side Gerard…”

“That is what he said.” Gerard admitted sheepishly, bowing his head for a moment before he scowled again. “But if he wants my support so badly then why didn’t he come home last night?” He turned his gaze on Mikey again, his face showing his irritation. 

“Probably because you upset him.” Mikey scoffed, swatting Gerard gently round the head. “I know what you’re like when you start arguing. He’s probably terrified to come home and it’s up to _you_ to prove that he has nothing to be afraid of.” 

“How can I? He’s ignoring all my calls and texts.” Gerard groaned, guilt starting to eat away at him. He knew he had over reacted slightly the day before, and that he had been foolish to lose control the way he had. Frank had never seen him lose it like that before, and as much as he wanted to think his lover wouldn’t be frightened of him he knew the was. 

“He’ll come round.” Mikey promised, smiling gently and moving to curl up against Gerard’s chest for a moment. “He loves you Gerard, sooner or later he’ll give you a second chance.” Mikey was certain of it. He only hoped Gerard wouldn’t fuck it up this time. 

 

When Frank woke up he felt as if a weight was crushing his stomach. The first thing on his mind was Gerard, and when he checked his phone to see the time it only made him feel worse when he saw the countless texts and calls he had missed. He considered messaging Gerard back right away, but he wasn’t ready to leave Jacob’s yet and he knew Gerard would demand he come home right away. 

Instead Frank had accepted Jacob’s offer to use the shower, and then had eaten breakfast with the dark skinned man. They had talked a little more about being a miracle worker, or an Earth angel as Frank preferred to call himself, the song by The Penguins still stuck in his head. 

Jacob was kind and far more caring than anyone Frank had known. Even Gerar wasn’t as lovely to him as Jacob was. He felt safe in his company, happy even, despite the dark nature of their conversation. Jacob was eager to fill Frank in on all he needed to know about Baal, demons and their ongoing war. But Frank still wasn’t sure he could stomach it all. He had certainly not given Jacob an answer as to whether he would help him. 

After breakfast Jacob had suggested that they start working on honing Frank’s skills, and this was something Frank was eager to try. They took a blanket with them into the living room and sat down on it together in front of the fireplace again. Jacob talked Frank through a little more about healing people, but ultimately it was up to Frank to figure it out for himself. 

“Okay, I’m going to prick my finger now, see if you can heal it.” Jacob picked up a long needle, making Frank wince anxiously as he used it to prick the pad of his thumb. 

“Jacob what if I can’t?” Frank began to worry but Jacob only smiled at him and shook his head. 

“It’s only a prick Frankie, it doesn’t matter if you can’t heal it.” Jacob withdrew the needle from his thumb slowly, and Frank could only watch as a bead of blood built up against the skin and then started to run down towards Jacob’s palm. 

Jacob smiled warmly at Frank and offered him his hand, his eyes relaxed and his expression reassuring. “Just do your best.” He said gently, relaxing into a more comfortable position as Frank took his hand and stared at the blood for a moment. 

“So I just…” Frank hesitated, feeling nervous and strangely embarrassed. Jacob had said he just had to want to heal someone and he’d be able to do it, and Frank did want to heal Jacob… He didn’t want to make a fool out of himself by failing. 

“Just relax.” Jacob whispered, smiling still as blood ran into his palm. “Do whatever your instincts tell you. It will come.” He assured him. 

Frank nodded and took a deep breath, concentrating hard as he ran his own thumb over Jacob’s, smearing the blood. He stared intently at the blood, trying to see the little pin prick beneath and focus all of his attention there. He tried to imagine the wound closing up, imagine the blood disappearing and the skin knitting itself back together. 

The prick was so small that every time Frank swiped the blood out of the way it took a few seconds for it to build back up again. He pressed his thumb down hard over the wound, trapping the blood and hiding the tiny hole. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to channel healing through his body and into his thumb pressed against Jacob’s.

Jacob watched Frank with a light smile, wanting him to succeed just as much as Frank did. But Jacob knew from experience how difficult it was to master healing, and so it was no surprise when after five minutes the prick stopped bleeding of its own accord, but a tiny red dot remained to show that Frank had not been able to heal it. 

Frank sat back slowly and huffed when he saw he had been unsuccessful. He had been warned not to expect too much to begin with, but he still felt a crush of disappointment. 

“I didn’t even come close.” He sighed, looking sadly at Jacob’s thumb but the other man only chuckled and shrugged. 

“It takes a lot of work to be able to heal like this. You’ll find it much easier when its a life or death situation.” 

“I’m not sure I could handle a life or death situation.” Frank scoffed, sighing as he flopped down onto his back for a moment and just stared at the ceiling. “I wish I could just make all of this go away…” 

Jacob bit his lip and moved slowly over to Frank, lying down beside him and turning to rest on his side. “What do you mean?” He asked gently, noticing how Frank’s eyes had started to glisten with tears. 

“I just… I just want to be normal.” Frank whispered, starting to feel sick as the reality of what he was began to sink in. “I don’t feel any different but I know that my whole world is changing and I… I don’t think I’m strong enough to handle it.” 

“You are Frank.” Jacob whispered back, his voice strong and full of conviction. He reached over to gently run a fingertip beneath Frank’s eye, collecting a tear drop. “You’re a lot stronger than you realise. I can tell.” 

“Really.” Frank half laughed and half scoffed, turning his head to meet Jacob’s gaze. “I hope you’re right.” He sighed, not wanting to fall apart in front of Jacob. He took a deep breath and forced his tears away, managing to compose as quickly as he had slipped. 

“I think I just… I dunno.” Frank sighed, moving to sit up. “I need to go home and speak to Gerard, I think. I’d feel a lot better if I knew him and me were okay.” After all of the text apologies he had received on his phone he was assuming that Gerard would be fine with him when he went home, and right then he just really wanted to be held by him. 

The smile that had been on Jacob’s face disappeared at the mention of Gerard’s name to be replaced by a deep, worried frown. He sat up along with Frank, still turning his body to face him. 

“I’ve actually been wanting to talk to you about Gerard.” He said softly, waiting until Frank met his gaze to continue. “I know now might not be the best time, but I want to tell you as soon as I can, before you get hurt.”

“What are you talking about?” Frank asked, feeling far too exhausted and messed up to have the energy to deal with more warnings about Gerard. “Gerard would never hurt me.” Frank felt a strange twist in his belly as he said it, thinking back to the way Gerard had looked during their argument but he pushed the image aside. 

“Look, I don’t want to be too presumptuous or upset you or anything…” Jacob sighed. “I just want to ask you if you know exactly what incubi are… Like, how they work.” He kept his tone tender, needing Frank to listen to him and not just brush anything he said aside. 

“Uh… I don’t know.” Frank shrugged, rubbing his temples with his fingertips. “I know they’re like, sex demons.” It sounded a little funny to say, though sex demon was a pretty apt way of describing his lover. Not that their sex life had been anywhere near as full on as when they had first met. 

“Sex demon I suppose is correct.” Jacob chuckled, shaking his head at the same time though. “But it’s not just as simple as them having a lot of sex.” Jacob waited to see if Frank was really paying attention. For a while the younger man only continued to rub at the sides of his head, but eventually he opened his eyes to look at Jacob properly and he lowered his hands into his lap.

“Okay…” He said slowly, waiting for Jacob to explain though he wasn’t too sure he wanted him to. 

“Incubi are… They crave power.” Jacob spoke slowly, trying to choose his words as carefully as possible. “They cannot really survive without sex. Almost like in vampire folklore if the creature cannot feed off blood then it grows weak as death, the same is the same for incubi if they don’t have sex.” 

“Okay.” Frank was struggling not to chuckle at that, but Jacob was deadly serious. 

“Frank, you must understand. For incubi sex is where they draw their power. They’re a lot stronger than humans, and they can increase that strength even more. The male sex drive is the most potent, so having sex with men gives them more power than with a woman. Things like ingesting semen also amplify their strength.” 

Frank wrinkled his nose up at that and tried not to giggle like a child. It all sounded so ridiculous he didn’t want to take it seriously, but the look on Jacob’s face was dark it was so serious. 

“Incubi are lusty creatures, but its power not sex that they lust over. You must realise, all you are to Gerard is a power source. He can tap into a rush of power whenever he wants with you, but I can not believe that you would be the only man he sees. It’s not in an incubus to be faithful to one lover, they get more power from sex the first time they have it with a person. Every time Gerard sleeps with you the power he can draw from you becomes less and less until eventually it will be like nothing at all.” 

“Right.” Frank nodded, all amusement gone by now. “So what you’re telling me is you think that Gerard must be cheating on me, because he’s just after power?” 

“I don’t know.” Jacob held his hands up as a sign of peace, sensing that Frank wasn’t impressed. “I’m just saying it’s not in an incubus’ nature to be with just one partner.” 

“Well Gerard _is_ with one partner. _Me_.” Frank got to his feet then, scowling deeply and feeling as wounded as if Jacob had stuck a knife into his stomach. “You don’t know the first thing about him _or_ me. We have been through hell and back together and there is no way I’m just a ‘power source’ for him. And anyway, no offense Jacob but it’s none of your Goddamn business in the first place.” Frank turned and strode out of the room then, storming into the hallway to pull on his coat and grab his gloves and scarf. 

Jacob followed Frank with a sigh, his eyes sad as he watched him getting ready to leave. 

“Frank, I’m sorry.” He sighed, leaning his shoulder against the wall. “I only wanted to warn you. I won’t bring it up again, I promise.” 

“It doesn’t matter.” Frank sighed, yanking on his gloves and turning to open the door. “I need to go home anyway.”

“Let me walk you back.” Jacob started to pick up his own coat then but Frank shook his head at him, turning to face him in the doorway.

“I’m fine by myself, thanks.” He said coldly, slamming the door shut as he stepped out into the snow. He walked down the street as fast as he could, but when he glanced over his shoulder before rounding the corner it was to find that Jacob hadn’t tried to follow him. He was alone… And when he got home he was alone too. 

Frank had thought about what he might say to Gerard when he got home the whole time he had walked back. It hadn’t crossed his mind for one second that his lover wouldn’t be in when he arrived. Not even finding the door locked had made him think about Gerard being out, it was only once he had let himself in and then walked through every room in the cottage that he realised it was just himself. 

Frank tried to pretend that it didn’t bother him that Gerard wasn’t there, and instead just went straight into the living room to get a fire going in the hearth before he made his way to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. He had had breakfast with Jacob but that had been hours ago so he tried to occupy his mind by rooting through all the cupboards and the fridge for something to cook. 

The sun had already set by the time Frank collapsed onto the sofa with a large mug of coffee and an entire box of mince pies. He had quickly given up on the idea of cooking and instead was hosting his own private pity party. The room had only the fire to light it, bathing Frank and the centre of the room in a deep orange glow, but leaving all of the corners dark and cold. The only noise was the soft crack and pop of the wood being consumed by the flames, and Frank just gazed at the fire as he chewed miserably on his pies. 

Frank hadn’t felt so scared and lonely since he had been Ava’s prisoner. The cottage was cosy and homely, it usually put him right at ease, but without Gerard around and with only the fire for company Frank couldn’t stop himself from feeling anxious. He knew he should just turn on the TV, or at least one of the lamps. He could even go up to the bathroom, have a relaxing bath with candles and wine and forget all his sorrows…

Instead Frank just continued to comfort eat, chewing on the mince pies and staring at the fire as if it might offer him some answers if he just looked long enough. He stared so long and ate so much that soon his eyes were burning and the mince pies box was empty. His mug was almost empty too and Frank finished off the coffee with a slurp which sounded too loud in the almost silent room.

With his drink and his pies now gone Frank felt worse than ever and he sighed as he leant forward to place the empty box and mug onto the coffee table. As he did so he heard a soft, whisper of a sound from the corner of the room, as if someone has just shifted their position. 

Immediately Frank’s gaze darted to the corner, but after staring at the fire so long all he could see was a deep, orange glow, like a suspended sun blocking his vision. He blinked hard several times, trying to make the glow disappear whilst at the same time he crammed himself further into the corner of the sofa, his heart racing. 

“Gerard?” He asked loudly, rubbing a hand over his eyes and blinking hard again. “Is that you?”

No response met Frank’s question, and once again all he could hear was the soft crackle of the fire. When the glow in his eyes finally disappeared Frank could see only darkness in the corner, made darker by the glow from the fire. Frank squinted, trying to see if there was anything there but there was only black. 

Frank waited with baited breath for another minute, his heart still racing. Perhaps it had just been the wind he had heard, or his imagination playing tricks on him. He knew better than to let his imagination run away with him but it was too late now, he felt as though the darkness was crushing him… suffocating him. 

Frank kept his eyes fixated on the corner of the room as he leant backwards over the arm of the couch behind him. He reached an arm behind himself, waving his hand around until he found the switch for the lamp beside him. With growing dread he flicked the switch, his eyes wide as he stared in the corner. 

“Eicca!?”

“Frankie?” Gerard’s voice made Frank jump violently and automatically he glanced at the living room door as he heard the front door slam. When he turned his eyes back to the corner of the room, it was empty. 

“Gerard…” Frank struggled to his feet, shaking all over and summoning up his courage to dare to dart across the carpet and out of the room, running as fast as he could down the hall and barreling into Gerard who was still stomping the snow off his boots. 

Gerard rose his eyebrows when Frank collided into his chest, his arms coming around him in a tight embrace. Frank buried his head against him, not even letting Gerard remove his coat first. 

“Frank?” Gerard could feel that Frank was shaking and he felt worry niggle at him as he carefully pried him off his torso and held him at arms length to look him over. “What’s wrong? Has something happened?” 

Gerard hadn’t actually been expecting to find Frank at home. He hadn’t had any response to his texts still and thought his lover was still ignoring him. After his long discussion with Mikey he had been nothing but worried as he came home on the train. He wanted desperately to make things up with Frank… He hadn’t been expecting to get the opportunity so soon. But all thoughts of apologies had gone straight out of his mind to be replaced by panic to find Frank so frightened. 

“N - No… Nothing… Nothing has happened…” Frank whispered, struggling to take a deep breath and calm down. For the tiniest split of a second he thought he had seen Eicca gazing at him from the corner of the living room, but he knew it had really just been his mind playing tricks on him. 

“You’re shaking.” Gerard pointed out worriedly, gently brushing his thumb across Frank’s cheek and gazing intently into his eyes. “Was it Jacob? Has he done something to you?” 

“What?” Frank felt some of his initial panic disappear and he shook his head frantically, frowning. “No, no of course not.” He insisted, hoping he didn’t look as guilty as he felt. He didn’t want to reveal to Gerard what Jacob had said about him, they had already done enough arguing for one week. 

“I’m fine, honestly.” Frank sighed, finally managing a deep breath and he settled down as he pulled Gerard into another tight hug. “I’m just so glad you’re home…”

“I’ve only been gone a few hours.” Gerard said, feeling rather bewildered. He gently rubbed Frank’s back and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek before he pulled back so he could finish removing his coat and boots. “You’ve been gone all night.”

“I know… I’m sorry.” Frank sighed, standing back timidly. “I was angry but I… I’m not now.” Frank tried a soft smile and was relieved when Gerard returned it. He took the demons hand and led him back to the living room, only glancing at the corner for a second before he settled down on the sofa next to Gerard. He felt a lot safer now they were together. 

“Where did you go last night?” Gerard asked, pretending to have no clue. He looked at the coffee table with the empty pie box and mug and tried not to smile to himself. Frank had clearly not been very happy when he got home if he had devoured eight mince pies alone; Gerard knew that shouldn’t make him feel pleased. 

“I went to Jacob’s.” Frank saw no point in lying, it was obvious that Gerard had guessed where he had gone. “I wanted to learn more about what I am and… And I knew it would piss you off.” Frank looked at Gerard carefully, wondering how he would react to that but to his surprise Gerard only nodded calmly. 

“I thought so.” He sighed, gently taking Frank’s hand and lacing their fingers. 

“Where have you been?” Frank asked, relaxing and sinking slowly against Gerard’s side. He kept his gaze on their interlocked fingers, feeling his heart swell slightly. Jacob was wrong about Gerard… He had to be. 

“I was with Mikey.” Gerard responded quietly, his own eyes on their hands too. “I needed his advice… and he made me realise what an asshole I’ve been.” 

“You haven’t.” Frank began but Gerard hushed him gently. 

“Look, I’m just going to say it, okay? I don’t really want to but… If you really want me to, then I’ll go with you to meet this Jacob guy and hear what he has to say.” 

Frank’s eyebrows rose in shock as he slowly turned his head to look at Gerard. The older man didn’t return his gaze, in fact he pointedly ignored it, clearly trying hard not to look too sour about the offer. Frank could barely believe he had heard him right. He had been all set to tell Gerard he would never see Jacob again and that they didn’t have to worry anymore… but suddenly Gerard had changed everything. 

Frank was still angry at Jacob, but he knew he needed him. He needed to know more… More about himself, more about demons, more about it all… And if Gerard was actually going to support him with that then it was more than he could ever hope for. 

“You really mean that?” He asked eventually, still staring at Gerard like he had gone crazy. 

Gerard huffed and turned his eyes on Frank, angrily at first but his gaze softened quickly and he sighed, nodding reluctantly. 

“Yeah… I do.” He whispered, really wishing he didn’t but Mikey was right. If he wanted Frank to stay with him then he had to support him whether he liked it or not. Mikey even thought he might learn a thing or two from Jacob, but Gerard still refused to believe that. 

“If you set up a meeting with him, then I’ll come. But somewhere public. This doesn’t mean I trust him.” Gerard made his voice firm, making sure Frank could hear how serious he was being. Frank nodded, a grin finally starting to form on his face and soon he was throwing his arms around Gerard again, kissing him deeply.

“I love you Gerard.” He beamed, feeling safer than ever. Gerard would always be able to protect him, no one was stronger than he was… Not to Frank. 

“You better.” Gerard scoffed, smiling despite himself when Frank kissed him over and over and soon he couldn’t help but melt. “Okay, okay… I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh. My. God.   
> This chapter was so darn hard to write! I don't know if its just because it takes so long to get time to write between each chapter or if I've just bitten off more than I can chew but I feel like I'm really faltering with this fic. I really don't want this to be like a sort of... second-hand sequel where it has nothing new to say, but it's starting to feel like it. I know where I want to take this, but I'm not sure how to go about it...   
> Please let me know if this is still doing it for you guys, or if its starting to falter for you all too. Cos' if it is, then I know I'll need to work harder and maybe move things in a few different directions to try and get it steaming again. Send help ~cry~


	7. Drowning lessons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness gracious me. 
> 
> First of all, one HUGE apology to all of you. I honestly can not say sorry enough. I am disgusted with myself in how long this chapter took to get out. To say I've been on hiatus is kind of an understatement. I have literally not written a scrap of anything since the last chapter of this story and have basically wallowed in some sort of personal darkness for the past few months (has it been months? It feels like years!). I really want to say I am out of that place now, but honestly I'm not sure I am. But the important thing is progress has been made (helloooo new chapter) and finally, FINALLY, we have an update.
> 
> Secondly let me say a big super massive thank you to anyone who is actually still waiting for this chapter. If you're still sticking with me after all this time you are an absolute angel and I adore you. I would kiss you if I could, so help me. I sincerely hope this chapter is worth the wait, but honestly I didn't really know where it was going until I finished it.
> 
> I want to tell you all updates will be frequent from now on, but I always seem to say it and never actually do it. But I can say that the hiatus is over, I am back and by hook or by crook I WILL finish this gosh-darn piece of fiction.

Long white fingers curled around the long, black drapes and pulled them back from the window. A pair of icy blue eyes peeked round the fabric and squinted at the world outside. It was raining, and the sky was thick with smoky grey clouds. 

The blue eyes flicked back and forth for a while, taking in all there was to see through the rain soaked window. 

The grey venetian square was deserted. All of the tourists that usually bustled around the square and ducked in and out of the local shops had all taken shelter in the various coffee houses and restaurants. It looked almost as if Venice had become a ghost town, and the man in the window found that a rather lovely notion. 

The man stepped back from the window and let the drapes fall into place again. The drapes were so thick and heavy, that if weren’t for the several candles dotted about the room, then it would have plunged entirely into darkness. 

As it was the candles provided a warm, but eerie glow. It was not enough light to see any real detail, but it was sufficient enough to allow the man and his guests to navigate the room without bumping into furniture or indeed, each other. 

The man said something in Italian as he walked across the room and took a seat on a high backed, leather armchair. Three other people were present, but either they could not speak Italian, or whatever the man had said required no response. All of them were silent. 

“How goes our preparations?” The man addressed his question to another man sat in a soft, plump armchair. This man was tall, and incredibly thin. Even in the dim lighting it was obvious that he was old, loose skin seemed to hang off his bones like elastic that had been overstretched. 

“Very well, my lord.” The old man responded, his voice aged and cracked. “I believe I am closer to discovering the correct ritual every day.” 

“Indeed.” The man in the leather armchair nodded seriously and created a steeple with his fingertips. “How much longer do you need?”

The old man made a quiet sound in the back of his throat, and tipped his head from side to side. “It is… Hard to say.” He admitted slowly, considering for a moment longer. “There are so many things to take into consideration…”

“A rough estimate will do.” The man in the leather armchair waved one hand flippantly. 

“These things cannot be rushed.” The old man cautioned, waving one long, gnarled finger. “But I am optimistic that we will have everything we need before this time next year.”

The other two people in the room made quiet sounds of derision, but the man in the leather armchair made no clear sign of what he was thinking. 

“Another year?” This time it was a different man who spoke. This man was sat on one end of a three seated sofa, and was dressed in an expensive, well tailored suit. He was the youngest man present. Although broad and bulky, his voice gave away that he could not have been any older than twenty. 

“We have waited so many years already.” The old man scoffed, turning his eyes on the young man. “Another year is but a drop in the ocean.” 

“Indeed.” The man in the leather armchair nodded, still gazing across the room at the old man. It was not possible to tell whether he was looking at him or simply gazing in his general direction, but for a long moment all was still and silent and then finally the man turned his head to look at the youngest man.

“And what of our recruitment? How is that going?” He asked in almost disinterested tone. 

“Very well, my Lord.” Although he was young, this man had been a part of the cult for years and he knew better than to believe it when his lord sounded like he didn’t care what answers he was given. He knew that he needed to impress him at all times, but if he tried to lie in order to be more impressive, his Lord would know it. 

“I have recruited another six people just this month.” The young man puffed his chest out proudly. “I have already begun their training.”

“Good.” The man everyone referred to as Lord gave a low purr of delight, flexing his long fingers where he still had them steepled beneath his chin. “I have every faith that their training will go smoothly.”

“Of course.” The younger man nodded, smiling to himself. 

The ‘Lord’ turned his head on to the third and final guest. 

“And what of our enemies?” He asked lightly, sounding amused by the very notion of having an enemy. 

The person he spoke to was sat on the other end of the three seat sofa, and the only woman in the room. 

“Nothing major to report.” The woman was younger than everyone, barely eighteen years old and small even for that age. In the dimness of the room she could have passed easily for a child, especially with her long hair tied up in pigtails as it was. But all the men present knew it was foolish to underestimate her. 

“I’ve got my eyes and ears on them at all times.” The girl assured her master. “They are continuing to recruit but slowly. Ya’akov has found someone new recently but from what I can tell it’s still not confirmed whether he will join them or not.”

“Good, good.” The man in the leather armchair purred. “Nothing for us to worry about then?”

“Definitely not.” The girl chuckled, twirling the end of a pigtail round her finger. “There are still so few of them, and they have made no more attempts to thwart us.” 

“They are probably trying to amass as many as possible and save their strength until the final ritual.” The old man spoke up thoughtfully, his voice quiet and weak.

“Then they’re not trying hard enough.” Scoffed the girl, lazily shrugging one shoulder. “As they are now, they’re no match for us.” 

“Still, we should not grow complacent.” The man in the leather armchair rose to his feet and crossed back over to the window. He pulled the drape aside and looked out onto the square once more, lost in his own thoughts for a while. 

“Ya’akov is older and wiser than all of you. He is smarter than you think.” 

“Too old you mean.” The girl scoffed, twisting to watch her master over the back of the couch. “I’ve been watching him closely, he’s no threat to us.” The girl spoke confidently, but the man at the window scoffed.

As quick as a flash the man waved a hand behind him and pointed his long fingers at the girl, immediately she was thrown backwards onto the floor and for a long moment the room was pierced by a terrible scream.

Neither the old man or the young showed any expression of surprise. They both sat rigid in their seats and waited silently for the girls screams to stop. They lasted for only a few seconds, but both men visibly relaxed when silence resumed. 

“Underestimate Ya’akov at your own peril.” The man at the window warned in a deep, rough growl. 

The girl quivered on the floor, gritting her teeth to stop herself from crying. She glared at her masters back but didn’t dare open her mouth. Down both sides of her face hot blood trickled, and then began to drip off her jaw and onto the carpet. 

 

“If he isn’t stopped, then I can’t even predict what danger the world will be left facing.” 

Gerard was silent, as he had been the whole time Jacob had been talking, but he was a lot tenser than he had been when they had first sat; and he’d been pretty tense then.

Frank was feeling nauseas again. He hadn’t been feeling too fantastic as it was, but hearing Jacob explain about Baal just made him feel even worse. He was certain he hadn’t felt that afraid the first time he had heard this story, but now he had had time to sleep on it, the thought of facing such a powerful demon was terrifying. 

Jacob simply waited for one of the two men to speak with a look of forced calm. He had been incredibly polite when they had arrived, even offering Gerard his hand to shake although the incubus would not take it. The introductions had been swift, everyone wanting the meeting to be over as soon as possible. 

“I have never heard of ‘just demons’ before.” Gerard finally spoke up, eyeing Jacob suspiciously. “And I definitely haven’t heard of angels either.”

Jacob shrugged, but said nothing. 

“I’ve been alive for three hundred years. I’ve never seen any heaven or hell.” 

“Neither have I.” Jacob spoke calmly, but beneath the table his nails were digging into his knees, his hands rigid. “And I have been alive for two thousand.” 

“Really?” Gerard quirked an eyebrow and let his disbelief show clear on his face. “You don’t know of any heaven or hell, yet you claim to be an angel.” 

“I claim no such thing.” Jacob spoke deliberately slowly, as if talking to an idiot. “I have been called many things. Angel is the most common, but I have never pretended to be one.”

“I did tell you that.” Frank whispered to Gerard, only helping to fuel his growing irritation. 

“Fine.” He grumbled, teeth clenched. “Then I suppose you don’t claim that this Baal is really a demon as well then?”

“He _is_ a demon.” Jacob replied, taking a long, deep breath to keep himself relaxed. “But perhaps not as you are imagining it. I don’t mean for any religious connotations to be mixed up with this.”

“If the guy is trying to summon Satan how can it _not_ be religious?” Gerard demanded, finding the whole thing just… ridiculous. 

“Because I don’t believe that it is possible to summon Satan.” Jacob scowled, meeting Gerard’s challenging stare eye to eye. “But it is possible to summon another demon - a worse demon. Like I have already explained.” 

“Don’t talk to me like I’m stupid.” Gerard growled, clenching his hands on top of the table. “I know that’s what you said.” 

“Then why does it matter if it’s religious or not?” Jacob snarled back, leaning closer over the table. “All that matters is that if Baal is given chance to succeed he _will_ summon up _something_. Be that a demon or otherwise, it is _bad news_ and if you don’t want the world to be destroyed then you have to let Frank help us.” 

“Why should I give a shit about the world?” 

“Because you live in it!” Jacob snapped, losing his temper for a split second, but calming down again almost immediately. He sank back into his seat and inhaled deeply, forcing himself to relax and take a sip of the coffee in front of him. 

Gerard, who had been about to jump out of his seat, sank back down when he felt Frank’s hand on his arm, coaxing him to cool down too. 

Jacob and Gerard kept their eyes glued to each other, both men scowling over their take away coffee cups. 

Frank bit his lip and glanced around to make sure they hadn’t drawn any attention to themselves, but no one was looking their way. They had decided to meet in a train station cafe, somewhere public, for all of their safety. But somewhere they could have enough privacy to talk. At least in the station other people were too busy catching trains and meeting loved ones to pay the three men any mind.

“Look…” Jacob took another, deep breath. “I know that you don’t trust me.”

“No shit.” Gerard scoffed, folding his arms in a huff. 

“And I don’t trust you either.” Jacob pushed on regardless. “But nothing can change the fact that Frank is an angel, miracle worker, whatever the hell you want to call us, too. He needs my help to control his power, even if he doesn’t help us in stopping Baal.”

“Who is ‘us’?” Gerard asked icily, slouching in his chair like a moody toddler. 

“My friends.” Jacob responded equally as cooly. “There is a group of us, all with these powers and all trying to stop Baal. If Frank wants to help then he can meet them - you can too, if it makes you feel any better.” 

“Not really.” Gerard snorted, opening his mouth to inform Jacob that it was hilarious that such an annoying man could even have any friends, but Frank stopped him with a soft hand on his knee. 

“Can I cut in for a second?” He asked gently, too tired and too sick to argue, or even listen to the others arguing. “Can you both stop acting like I can’t make my own decisions? If I decide I want to help, then Gerard can’t stop me.” Frank told Jacob. 

“But you know how much your support means to me.” He added, looking at Gerard. 

Gerard gazed back at Frank with a slightly softened expression. He opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it and closed it again. Jacob watched them both carefully, but he too kept quiet. 

“I don’t know yet if I want to help. I just… I’m still trying to just get my head around everything.” Frank groaned, running a hand through his hair. “I want to understand what these powers I supposedly have are like. And I want time to take this in slowly… Can you do that for me? Give me time?” He asked softly, looking at Jacob. 

Jacob nodded slowly, some of his anger disappearing. 

“Of course.” He spoke gently, almost apologetically. “Like I said, I want to help you. And whether you help me is entirely your choice.” Jacob threw a pointed stare at Gerard and then looked once more at Frank. 

“I can help you master your power. After all, that’s what friends do for each other.” Jacob smiled warmly and Frank couldn’t help but smile back. Beside him, Gerard silently fumed in his seat. 

“Thank you Jacob.” Frank said softly, feeling elated to be referred to as Jacob’s friend. He still felt an intense connection with him, though it was dulled slightly whilst he was sat beside Gerard. 

Gerard too was feeling a connection with Jacob, but his was nowhere near as positive. The second he had come into close proximity with him he could sense that he was not human, and that disturbed him. Even more concerning was that he couldn’t recognise what he was… He had never sensed such power before, but Jacob seemed to just emit it in vast quantities. 

Gerard didn’t want to believe that Jacob was an angel or whatever he claimed to be. He didn’t want to believe that Frank was one either. Despite what Mikey had said, Gerard was still sort of hoping that Jacob was just a liar and that soon enough he would be exposed and out of their lives for good. 

He had agreed to come and meet him for Frank’s sake, but now he wasn’t so sure it had been a good idea. He thought he would meet Jacob and know immediately that he was just a human, and now he knew he wasn’t he felt almost afraid of him.

Jacob too was wary of Gerard. He had heard of incubi but he had never come close to one before. Sitting in Gerard’s presence was dizzying and unnerving. He couldn’t make sense of what he made him feel, only that he didn’t like it. 

Frank was oblivious to the silent war raging between the two men. He knew they disliked each other, but he didn’t realise how deeply their hatred was seated. He was just glad that they had agreed to meet and were talking almost civilly to each other. 

“How do you intend to help Frank?” Gerard finally asked Jacob after he had grown tired of seeing him smile at his lover. 

“By helping him control his power.” 

“And how do you intend to do that?” Gerard pushed, frowning suspiciously again. 

Jacob heaved a long sigh and gave Gerard a look of disdain. 

“With a lot of time of patience.” He said coolly, being deliberately maddening. 

“I imagine you’ll have to be spending a lot of time with each other.” Gerard scowled, growing tense again. “Alone.”

Jacob cocked his head to the side and tutted, shaking his head as if he felt sorry for Gerard which only made him angrier. 

“If you have any specific worries Gerard, feel free to voice them.” Jacob offered smoothly, forcing the calm expression he did so well. 

Gerard clenched his teeth and forced himself to keep quiet. There was a multitude of things he felt like saying, and a million worries he could voice. He glanced at Frank, then back at Jacob. 

“I’m not worried.” He finally gritted out through his teeth. “Why should I be? I’m sure you know full well that if you cause him any harm I’ll kill you.” 

“I’m sure you’re very good at it.” Jacob retorted, easily able to see blood on Gerard’s hands. He wasn’t sure how many people he had killed or how long ago his last kill was, but he was not an idiot. He knew Gerard was a dangerous man to anger. 

He wondered if Frank knew just how dangerous he was. 

“Guys, calm down.” Frank whispered, not sure he could sit through any more bickering. His head was pounding and the bustle of people around them was making him feel exhausted. 

“I think it’s time we were leaving, actually.” Gerard rose to his feet, still keeping his eyes on Jacob. 

Jacob stared steadily back, but didn’t move. 

Frank glanced at both men once and then, with a deep sigh, rose to his feet to stand beside Gerard. 

“I would really like your help Jacob.” He spoke gently, hoping Gerard wouldn’t mind him saying it. “And I’ll think some more about how involved I want to be with the whole… Baal thing.” 

“Thank you.” Jacob nodded and finally got to his feet. “I’ll message you later to arrange a time we can meet. I’m confident you’ll pick up your powers easily.” Jacob smiled warmly at Frank and embraced him like an old friend. 

Frank couldn’t help but hold Jacob back, feeling dizzy and intoxicated in the few seconds they were entwined. 

They released each other quickly, both men hyper aware of the burning glare coming from Gerard. If they hadn’t been in such a public place Gerard would have torn them away from each other. As it was, he simply kept his clenched hands hidden in his pockets. 

“Well,” Frank coughed awkwardly and glanced at Gerard with a nervous expression. “We best be off then.”

“Yes.” Gerard agreed, still scowling at Jacob. 

Frank looked uneasily at his lover for a moment before gently tugging on his arm. Gerard finally looked at him and Frank tried to make him walk away by starting to leave himself. He spoke a final goodbye to Jacob and started to weave his way through the crowds of people, heading for the exit. 

Gerard waited until Frank was out of earshot and then turned back on Jacob. 

“I’m warning you, if you do anything to hurt him -”

“Don’t even think about threatening me Gerard.” Jacob snarled, no longer hiding his repulsion. “If anyone is going to hurt Frank we both know it isn’t me.”

“Meaning what?” 

“You _know_ what.” Jacob took a step closer to Gerard until they were almost touching. Jacob was slightly taller than the demon, and he stood up straighter to emphasise his height, delighting in how Gerard had to look up at him. 

“I don’t know what you intend to do with him, but let me assure you, now I’m in the picture I will do everything in my power to protect him from you.” Jacob spoke quietly and through clenched teeth, but each word was like poison. 

“He doesn’t need protecting.” Gerard seized Jacob by his shirt without thinking and almost lifted him right off his feet. “He has _me_.”

“You don’t get to monopolize him anymore Gerard.” Jacob scoffed, shoving himself out of Gerard’s grip with some difficulty. “I know what you creatures are like -”

“The _fuck_ do you -” Gerard fell short, realising that people around them were starting to look over and Frank was striding back towards them with a look of pure terror on his face. 

Gerard let Jacob go immediately and took a hasty step backwards. Jacob looked as calm and collected as ever, making Gerard feel like everyone was looking at him like a madman. Even Frank seemed to be scared of him as he approached. 

“I’m not done talking with you.” Gerard hissed at Jacob before forcing a quick smile just as Frank reached them. “I wish I could say it was a pleasure meeting you…” 

“Don’t worry,” Jacob purred back in the same silky tone Gerard had adopted, “I’m sure once we come to understand each other, we’ll be firm friends.”

Both angel and demon forced honey sweet smiles and turned away slowly. Gerard took Frank’s hand and strode away as fast as he could, every muscle in his body tensed. 

Jacob watched silently as the couple left, his heart still racing after his mini-confrontation with the incubus. He had been afraid, but the fear didn’t really sink in until after his adrenaline had worn off. Within seconds though he was trembling so much that he had to sit back down and was unable to even stand for ten minutes. 

As soon as he felt strong enough though he got to his feet and hurried out of the train station, eager to get home and contact his friends and find out what they thought should be done about the incubus.

 

“Thank you for coming with me today.” 

Gerard made no sign that he had heard Frank. He was leaning his hands on the kitchen sink, gazing out of the window above it at the falling snow and trying to relax. He hadn’t said anything to Frank the whole way home, and as soon as they had got back to the cottage he had strode into the kitchen and kept his back to Frank ever since. 

“I really appreciate you trying for me.” Frank tried again, walking slowly up to Gerard. “I know it wasn’t easy.”

Gerard still didn’t answer, though he heard Frank perfectly. 

“I don’t think it went as badly as it might have done…” Frank was really trying to be positive now. In all honesty it hadn’t been as bad as it could have been, he’d had nightmares all the night before of Gerard and Jacob killing each other… really, things had gone a million times smoother. 

Gerard certainly looked like he could have killed Jacob though. 

“Gee… Please speak to me.” Frank gently lay his hand on Gerard’s back as he approached him. He was surprised to feel how rock solid his lover’s back was, and he immediately got to work rubbing his hands beneath his shirt and easing the knots out of the muscles. 

“Was it _really_ that bad?” He asked softly, pressing up against Gerard and laying a tender kiss to the back of his neck.

“I don’t like him.” Gerard’s voice came out strained and tight. Frank could tell without seeing that he had his teeth clenched. 

“I know.” Frank pressed his thumbs either side of Gerard’s spine and moved in slow, but hard circles against the skin. “I don’t think he liked you either.”

Gerard gave a short, humourless chuckle and bowed his head. “You think?”

“At least you both showed up.” Frank thought it unwise to mention that he thought Jacob and Gerard were merely different sides of the same coin, so tried to voice his opinion a lot more subtly. “You both tried… for me. That means something, right?”

“Hmph.” Gerard shrugged and pouted moodily. 

“You’re at least okay with me training with him, aren’t you?” Frank pressed the heels of his palms into Gerard’s back next and started to slide his hands up and down, gently working and warming the skin. 

“I don’t know…” Despite himself Gerard was starting to relax. He wanted to say no, but he knew that Frank wouldn’t listen to him, and if he tried to force him not to see Jacob again it would only drive a wedge between them. That was probably what the angel wanted. Gerard wouldn’t give him the damn satisfaction.

“I don’t know what I would do if he hurt you…”

“He isn’t going to hurt me.” Frank whispered, tiptoeing up to slowly kiss all over the back of Gerard’s neck. “If anything, he’s just scared that I’m going to be hurt by you.”

“You know I would never -!”

“I know.” Frank interrupted Gerard, hushing him and kissing him as his hands worked on his lower back. “I know you would never hurt me. But you have to trust me when I say I believe Jacob would never hurt me either.”

Gerard snorted softly but didn’t argue. He couldn’t convince Frank otherwise, he had no proof that Jacob was a danger to him. But that didn’t change that he didn’t trust him. 

“If you really want to be trained by him then it’s up to you.” Gerard inhaled deeply as Frank’s warm lips caressed the skin just beneath his ear. “But I want ah… strict schedules for it… so if you’re not home when you’re supposed to be I can come and … come and…” Gerard shook his head, trying to find the right words which were quickly being kissed out of his mind. 

“Come and… save me?” Frank offered gently, smoothing his palms round Gerard’s lower back, over each of his hips and onto his stomach. 

“Yes.” Gerard breathed, finally relinquishing his deadly grip on the sink and relaxing fully. 

“I think a strict schedule isn’t too much to ask… at least until you trust him too.” Frank mused, nibbling delicately on the shell of Gerard’s ear. 

“Ha!” Gerard shook his head and rolled his eyes, but quickly closed them again as Frank’s hands tickled over his stomach. “I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen.”

“Oh, I won’t.” Frank smirked, enjoying his newly found power over his lover. “But I’m sure it will happen…” Frank wasn’t sure why he was so confident. It was like a deep, instinctual feeling inside him… He just knew that both Gerard and Jacob were wrong about each other. He knew he could trust them both, and was just as certain they would come to trust each other eventually too.

Gerard couldn’t really care less right then though. He had done what he had said he would, and admittedly, although he hadn’t enjoyed meeting Jacob he didn’t feel any immediate danger from him. As such he was able to relax and concentrate on something far more important for the time being. 

“Can we stop talking about Jacob now?” He whispered, his voice huskier than it had been earlier.

“Mm… What would you like to talk about instead?” Frank asked quietly, still nuzzling against Gerard’s neck. 

Instead of answering, Gerard took hold of one of Frank’s hands on his stomach and pushed it down over his crotch. He had started to harden from all of Frank’s kissing and he pushed his hips forward to make sure Frank really felt it. 

Frank hummed appreciatively against Gerard’s neck and pressed his own hips forward against Gerard’s ass. He felt oddly fired up, all the nausea he had been feeling in the train station completely gone and replaced by a hunger he hadn’t felt in a long time. He felt as though he had spent the afternoon being charged up with electricity which was now sparking through his veins. 

Gerard pressed Frank’s hand harder against his semi and thrust his hips back at the same time, his breathing growing heavy as Frank mouthed at his neck. He couldn’t remember the last time Frank’s scent had caught him so strongly but right then he felt like he was swimming in it, completely consumed by the sexual energy Frank had suddenly created, like flicking on a switch. 

“Mmph… Fuck, I want you to fuck me so bad.” Frank could barely believe the words coming out of his own mouth. It reminded him of the first day he had met Gerard, when he had been completely unprepared for the way he would make him feel and they had fucked desperately in his car. 

Gerard’s had swam for a second he was caught so unaware. As soon as he had recovered from most of his surprise though he managed to tap into the demonic side of himself and reign in his control. Within a split second he had managed to spin them both round so that Frank was suddenly pressed against the counter, his wrists caught between Gerard’s hands. 

“What’s brought this on?” He asked, a little breathless. He forced Frank’s legs apart and pressed one of his thighs between them, rubbing up against the smaller man. “It’s very sudden.”

“I know.” Frank grinned devilishly up at Gerard and pulled hard on his wrists, trying to break free of Gerard’s hold. “Are you complaining?”

“Absolutely not.” Gerard released Frank’s wrists at the same time as he leant down to kiss him. Frank immediately flung his arms around Gerard’s neck and tangled his fingers in his dark hair, pulling and tugging as he gyrated his hips against Gerard’s leg. 

The kiss the two men shared was almost brutal and both of them received bites to their lips and scratches on their bodies as they fought to undress each other first. Clothes were tossed aside like old rags, indeed, Frank’s shirt was left looking like a rag once Gerard had finished tearing it off him.

It was only a few minutes after that until Frank was bent over the kitchen table, Gerard’s chest pressed his back and his legs splayed as wide as they could go. Gerard was attacking his back and neck with bites and kisses, and the tip of his erection was nudging against his ass. 

Frank was already feeling dizzy, but when Gerard pushed into him the dizziness increased until he felt almost faint. He had never felt so affected before, and was only vaguely aware of the loud noises he was making as Gerard fucked him against the table. 

Gerard mouthed at Frank’s neck and bit against his flesh as he slammed his hips against him. He could feel fire burning through his core and he could barely breathe. He held tight to Frank’s hips, pulling him back with each thrust forward so that their skin slapped obscenely. 

Frank was moaning like a whore and Gerard’s whole body seemed to be pulsing with each tug of pleasure. He felt oddly changed, like there was a worm in his brain, but all he could focus on was his need to cum. All he could hear was Frank and their colliding hips. All he could smell was sex and pheromones, a smell so overpowering he was almost drowning in it. 

Frank was the first to cum, screaming as he did. Gerard joined him just a few seconds afterwards, holding still inside his lover until he was completely drained. As soon as their orgasms subsided it was like a cloud dispersed and both men slunk to the floor in a tangled mess of sweaty limbs.

Feeling weakened, Gerard slowly rolled onto his back and pressed a hand to his forehead. His heart was racing and his breathing was short. He felt like he’d been fucking for hours but it could barely have been half an hour since they’d even arrived home. He glanced at Frank who was lying, mouth agape beside him.

“What… What just happened..?” Frank asked between pants of air, turning his head to look properly at Gerard who could only shrug in wonderment. 

 

Outside the cottage a woman turned away from her spot in line with the window and pulled the hood of her coat up to hide her face. She strode through the snow and pressed one button on a phone in her hand. She pushed the gadget to her ear and glanced over her shoulder at the cottage one last time before speaking into the phone. 

“I need to talk to you. There’s been a serious development.”


	8. Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me just say thank you guys, your lovely comments after last chapter and so long away really made me feel so amazing. You're all so lovely and gah, I adore you all!   
> ps. this chapter is super lame I am sorry, I just needed to set down the 'ground work' so to speak.

“Are you nervous?” 

Frank looked at Jacob and managed to conjure up a thin smile. Nervous? Of course he was nervous. He was terrified. Actually, sick to the stomach. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been so nervous about meeting people. 

“No, not really.” 

Lies. Liar. Such a _liar_. 

“That’s good.” Jacob’s eyes were full of warmth, his smile kind. “Really good.” 

“Yeah.” 

_Agree with him. Just agree with him. Now breathe. Breathe. Breathe._

Jacob looked sidelong at Frank again, looked at the pulse in his neck and the way his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. 

_Nervous_.

“There’s nothing to be worried about, you know?” Jacob reached out and gently took Frank’s hand in his own. Frank was too nervous to let it go. 

“Just relax.” 

It was surprisingly easy to follow Jacobs advice. Frank took a deep, calming breath and felt some of his unease disappear. He passed his tongue across the crease of his lips and felt how dry they were, focused on that instead of the long alley way they were walking down. 

“They’re going to love you.” Jacob’s voice came from far-away, dream like. 

_Breathe._

By the time they reached the door set in the side of the old warehouse Frank was feeling decidedly cool. He was amazed at his own ability to relax; the thought never crossing his mind that his sudden ease was entirely due to Jacob’s powers and nothing to do with his months of rather expensive therapy. 

Jacob looked at Frank again and smiled warmly. 

“Ready?”

With Jacob holding his hand and subtly changing his emotions of fear to ones of anticipation, Frank found it easy to nod his assent. 

Jacob gave Frank’s hand a quick squeeze and then knocked loudly on the door they were facing. There was a long pause, and then finally a soft, female voice called to them from behind the door. 

“Password!”

“Engine oil.” Jacob called back, flashing Frank a quick grin before the sound of the door being unlocked could be heard. 

Frank didn’t have time to wonder over the bizarre password choice before the door was swinging open and Jacob was ushering him inside quickly, as if they were trying to get in before anyone else could, even though there was no one else around. 

Frank stumbled through the doorway, almost slipping right onto his ass with his shoes still wet from the snow outside. Someone to the left of him reached out to help him before he could fall, and he found himself turning to thank a young girl who looked far too young to be hanging out inside an abandoned warehouse. 

“Thank you - oh.” Frank gawped in surprise at the tiny girl, who smiled sweetly up at him. 

“Mind your step.” She giggled, watching as Jacob stepped in behind Frank and quickly closed the door. He locked and bolted it and then stamped the snow from his own shoes. 

“Afternoon everyone.” He called brightly, unzipping his coat and then laying his hand on Frank’s shoulder to steer him into the centre of the room. 

Frank was still staring wide eyed at the child, but had to look away when Jacob started moving him. He finally paid attention to the rest of the space, and was surprised by how much of it there was. 

The warehouse looked large from the outside but it looked even bigger inside. The roof seemed miles above them, and there was so much floor space that Frank guessed you could probably house a dozen trucks inside. In the centre of the floor space was a large metal basin which was acting half as a fire pit and half as a barbeque, one man standing beside it turning a spit with two chickens on. 

The rest of the floor was a jumble of all kinds of oddities. There were chairs and large, plush cushions for sitting on, and a couple of fold out beds. A dozen or more sleeping bags were scattered around, and a few odd pieces of clothing too. But amongst all of this were hundreds of books, all stacked on top of each other in several piles. A variety of metal objects, scientific or astronomical, maybe even magical for all Frank knew… There were bottles and vials, a gun and a sword, boxes of food and a few scattered plates. There was even a 1920s telephone table, with a skull sat where the telephone should be.

It was almost hard to spot the other people with all the things lying around, but eventually Frank managed to find them all as they began to stand one by one from their various resting positions. 

“Everyone, come and meet Frank.” Jacob grinned, leading Frank over to the large fire pit. The heat from it could be felt from six feet away, but it was a welcome respite from the freezing temperatures outside. 

Frank felt his cheeks turning pink as six pairs of eyes all fell on him. 

The man turning the chickens on the spit looked Frank up and down with sharp, green eyes. And the little girl from the door dashed round to stand beside him, giggling behind her hand like she knew a secret. 

The other four people in the room sauntered over to the fire to meet Frank, all of them looking wary but offering him kind smiles. Frank tried to return them, but his nerves had come back with vengeance now that Jacob wasn’t holding his hand anymore.

Jacob smiled warmly as he began to introduce each person, motioning to them with his hand as he gave their names in turn.

“Frank, meet Samuele--”

“Just call me Sam.” 

Sam was the man turning the chicken spit. He was tall like Jacob, but skinny, where Jacob was lithe. His skin was pure, porcelain white, and his jet black hair was pulled up into a ponytail that was so long the end touched his belt line. Strands of long, dark hair that had fallen from the elastic were tucked behind his ears, one of which was pierced with a small silver hoop.

Jacob motioned to the young girl beside him. 

“Mckayla--”

This was the child who had opened the door to them. When her name was spoken she looked about ready to burst with excitement and she jumped up and down joyfully for a second.

“Hello!” She beamed, blue eyes sparkling. She was the cutest thing Frank had ever seen, with lush red hair plaited down her back, and plump cheeks dusted with freckles. She was wearing a pair of ratty denim dungarees, with one blue high-top and one pink. 

“Hello.” Frank smiled back before Jacob moved to the woman beside her. 

“Sofia--”

Where Mckayla was cute, Sofia was beautiful. She smiled at Frank in a way that made his heart pound; a feat no other woman could have achieved. 

Sofia was not a thin woman. Her hips were wide and her breasts large and heavy. She was wearing a white, woollen dress that fit snugly to her small waist and large thighs, the hem going down to her knees. She wore patterned black tights and dainty black shoes, and let her brown hair fall in sumptuous waves down her shoulders. 

Frank was not sure what was so damn attractive about Sofia. She was too plump to ever make a catwalk model, and Frank was most definitely gay, but there was something in her full pink lips and her kindly brown eyes that made him feel well… funny. 

Sofia’s grin widened slightly, as if she knew what Frank was thinking and she flashed him a quick wink before Jacob moved on.

“Patrick--”

Patrick waved a hand up at Frank, but didn’t say anything around the cigarette dangling from his mouth. He was a stocky man, with flaming red hair and deeply intricate celtic tattoos woven all over his exposed arms and neck, so much that you could barely see any of his pale skin. 

“Dayo--”

This man had darker skin than even Jacob. He was a tall, African man with a smooth, bald head and thick muscles. He looked at Frank with cool eyes, his arms folded tight across his body. Out of everyone in the room he looked at Frank with the most suspicion. 

“And Gisele.” 

The final of the six people was also the eldest looking of the group. She smiled warmly at Frank but her eyes too were suspicious. She had entirely grey hair which was rolled into a neat bun at the side of her head. She was thin, and blue veins were prominent beneath her skin, but she looked as sharp as a tac. 

Frank gazed around at everyone in turn, feeling a little overwhelmed by the mixture of names, ages and races. He hadn’t been told anything about the group before coming, only that they were Jacob’s closest friends and the people he trusted most in the whole world… And that they were going to help him train Frank.

“Everyone, meet Frank.” Jacob gestured at Frank with a grin, clearly thrilled to finally be introducing everyone. 

“Hello.” Frank coughed, shuffling uneasily from one foot to the other. “It’s nice to meet you all.”

“Take a seat Frank.” Jacob smiled, gesturing to one of the many cushions on the floor. “How long until those are done?”

Frank watched as Jacob moved closer to Sam and inspected the chickens he was cooking, and everyone else just naturally disbanded and started to sit down in a little circle. 

Frank bit his lip and felt a small tinge of panic worm through his chest. It was like reliving his first day of highschool, stepping into the cafeteria and just staring at the sea of unfamiliar faces. He wasn’t sure where to put himself, whether he should sit in the circle or outside of it, whether he should pick a person to sit next to, or whether he should sit alone. He wished desperately that Jacob would just stick next to him.

“Come sit here Frank.” Gisele smiled warmly at Frank from her spot atop a large, overstuffed cushion. She patted another one beside her and cocked her head to indicate that Frank should move. 

Frank smiled in relief and mumbled a soft ‘thanks’ as he dropped down onto the cushion beside her. Immediately Mckayla seized her own cushion and dragged it through the centre of the circle before plopping it next to Frank’s and throwing herself down onto it. 

“You look nervous.” Gisele smiled, gently laying her hand on Frank’s knee. “Don’t be. I promise you, we’re not that scary.” Gisele had a lovely, soothing voice. Her accent wasn’t too strong, but undeniably French, and lilted in a very pleasing way. 

“We’re actually really nice!” This time Mckayla spoke up,giving Frank a grin that was all teeth. “Jacob said we’re going to teach you how to heal people properly and that you’re going to help us fight all the demons.” Mckayla sounded excited by the thought; the concept of demons was clearly not a thing that bothered her. 

“Well I uh…”

“I didn’t say that.” Jacob cut in, smiling over at them from by the fire. “I said he _might_ help us. Not that he definitely would.” He directed his words to Mckayla, but Frank felt that they were really intended for him. 

“But we know that you will.” Sofia spoke then, gazing at Frank curiously from across the circle. She was smiling at him in an inquisitive kind of way, resting her chin on her hand. “You just need a little confidence, that’s all. Once we’ve got you in control of your powers, I can tell that you’d be the type of person to use them to help us.” 

“Uh, yeah…” Frank smiled, though his eyes were full of doubt. He still didn’t want to even think about fighting demons, certainly not until he could actually do what everyone kept saying he could. “Maybe. Lets just see how the training goes.” He chuckled, feeling pressured and flustered as everyone looked at him.

“I can’t wait to fight the demons.” Mckayla piped up, leaning in close to Frank. “I’m not afraid of them.” 

“Only foolish little girls are not afraid of demons.” Dayo had a deep, hypnotising voice which sounded loud even when he talked softly, as he did then, staring at Mckayla with fierce, golden eyes. 

“You always say that.” Mckayla scowled, pushing her bottom lip out in a deep pout. 

“That is because it is true.” Dayo folded his arms across his chest. “Little girls should listen.” 

“I _do_ listen.” Mckayla scoffed, still pouting. “But I’m not scared.” She added, under her breath. 

Daya sighed and frowned at her, but didn’t say anything more as Jacob and Sam stepped into the circle with plates full of bread and chicken. 

The darkening moods all lightened immediately, everyone reaching in to grab from the plates that were set in the middle of the circle. Jacob sat down opposite Frank, pouring him a cup of wine and sliding it across the floor to him before telling him to eat freely. 

Frank glanced at the plate full of chicken and then bypassed it to take a piece of bread instead. He didn’t think then was the time to bring up that he was a vegetarian, not when he was trying desperately to fit in. 

Idle small talk was made as everyone ate and Frank mostly kept quiet and listened. He tore his bread into small pieces which he nibbled at slowly, still feeling too nervous to have much of an appetite. The rest of the group though devoured their chicken and bread as if they hadn’t eaten in days, the plates soon empty and cups being refilled. 

Everyone was drinking wine, even Mckayla, although it didn’t taste particularly strong. Frank suddenly remembered that no one present could age, and he found himself gazing curiously at Mckayla, wondering how old she really was…

Jacob waited until everyone had finished their second cups of wine, opened another bottle and then got to his feet. Without a word he crossed the length of the warehouse floor, rooted around in a pile of oddities and then made his way back over to the group with something in his hand. 

“Shall we start some training?” Jacob cleared the plates away and sat down in the centre of the circle, motioning for Frank to join him. He revealed what he was holding in his hand - a small, sharp knife - and smiled soothingly at Frank.

“I’m not going to give you any direction right now. I want you to see what you can do just instinctively.” Jacob touched the blade of the knife to his open palm. 

“Wait!” Frank gasped, panic rearing inside of him. “Can’t you just use a needle like before?” 

“I think you might need something a little more… substantial.” Jacob said gently, shrugging like it was nothing. “I won’t hurt myself, don’t worry. And everyone here can heal me if you can’t.” The words were supposed to be reassuring, but they only made Frank feel worse. 

“I think last time you struggled because you couldn’t really see a wound. If you have something clear to focus on, you might do better.” Jacob started to press the knife down against his skin. “Don’t worry if nothing happens. This isn’t a test. We’re all just relaxing together.”

“Relaxing?” Frank laughed hollowly at that and watched with an increasing sickening feeling as Jacob drew the knife across his palm and let free a river of blood. 

“Sure, we always do this in our spare time.” Patrick said sarcastically in a thick, Irish accent. He had lit a cigarette and was watching the blood running across Jacobs hand and wrist with dull eyes. 

“Don’t be sarcastic.” Jacob scolded Patrick lightly, looking at him from the corner of his eye before smiling gently at Frank again and offering him his bleeding hand. “Go ahead, just give it a try.”

Frank looked at Jacob’s outstretched hand and then uncertainly at everyone watching him. Mckayla was still looking excited and Giselle was smiling as kindly as Jacob, but Sam, Dayo and Patrick all had the same look of cool suspicion. Sofia was the only one paying more attention to the blood dripping onto the cold warehouse floor than on Frank.

Frank swallowed thickly and took a deep breath. He had been nervous when he’d tried healing the needle prick in Jacob’s house… but it was nothing to the anxiety he felt now. He was surrounded by six strangers, all of whom could do what he couldn’t. He desperately wanted to impress them, but the pressure he was feeling with their eyes on him was so immense he couldn’t possibly concentrate. And even if he could… He still didn’t know what he was supposed to _do_. 

“Frank…” Jacob drew Frank’s attention back to himself with his soft voice. “Don’t be afraid.” He stretched his hand out even more, waiting patiently for Frank to take it. 

Frank glanced around at everyone one last time and then slowly lay the back of Jacob’s hand in his own palm. He looked at the blood trickling over his wrist and fingers and tried to see past it to the wound itself. It was long and deep, touching the left side of Jacob’s palm and stretching diagonally across to the right. The line of the wound looked black beneath the crimson wash of blood. 

“I find it easiest if I-”

“Shh!” Sofia hushed Mckayla before she could say anything, holding a finger over her lips. “Let him do it himself.”

Frank glanced at Sofia and felt his heart miss a beat. He didn’t want to try anything by himself, he wanted to be told what he should do. 

Jacob’s blood was starting to run over the sides of Frank’s fingers and creep through the gap of their hands to pool in his palm. The blood was hot and wet and completely off putting. 

“Just try to concentrate.” Jacob whispered, flexing his fingers slightly as his hand throbbed with pain. “Don’t worry so much.” 

Frank nodded and gulped. He wished he could do as Jacob advised but it was nearly impossible. He wished he could practice on his own, without anyone watching him; but it was obvious that no one was going to leave them to it. 

Frank thought back to the day he had healed the motorbike rider, and when Jacob had healed some of his scars. Both times had involved him or Jacob laying their hands over the wound they had wanted to heal, and in his case he had simply willed with all of his might for the rider not to die.

Frank passed his tongue over his lips and slowly lay his free hand over Jacob’s palm. He winced slightly at the sensation of blood on both of his hands, Jacob’s hand now sandwiched between them. He couldn’t see the wound anymore but he could feel it and he focused his attention on it, trying to picture the neat, straight line in his mind.

Frank closed his eyes and focused hard on the cut, forcing himself to forget about the others watching him; to even forget about Jacob and just concentrate on his own mind, his own feelings and what he was trying to do. 

Seconds dragged by into minutes. No one moved or spoke, everyone waited patiently for Frank to do something… anything. 

Frank held the image of the cut on Jacob’s hand in his mind for five minutes, waiting until he felt relatively relaxed before he started willing it to disappear. He didn’t speak out loud like he wanted to, still self-conscious enough of the group watching him. But in his mind he talked to the wound, telling it over and over to close and heal itself. 

Frank could distinctly remember chanting to the motorbike rider, ‘don’t die, please don’t die’, over and over again the day he had healed him. He tried the same technique then, chanting in his head, ‘heal, please heal’ over and over until he felt dizzy with it.

Frank started to press his hands harder around Jacob’s, imagining the wound knitting itself together and closing up like someone pulling a zip. He rubbed his palm over Jacob’s, slipping over the blood. He couldn’t tell whether he was feeling a wound anymore or not, and slowly… ever so slowly, he dared to open his eyes and draw his hand away. 

As Frank dropped his hands away everyone around them leaned slowly forward, six pairs of curious eyes looking at Jacob’s palm.

Jacob kept his hand outstretched, but he didn’t bother to look at it himself. He could still feel the pain throbbing through his palm, and he was starting to feel a little sick from the blood still running free. He was now covered in it, and so was Frank and the floor. 

“It didn’t work.” Sam pointed out the obvious as he moved forward to take Jacob’s hand for himself. 

Sofia got to her feet and walked away for a few seconds before returning with a roll of blue paper towels. She threw the roll to Sam who tore off several sheets and began to dab the blood away from Jacob’s hand. Once he could see the cut more clearly he healed it, as if it was as easy as breathing.

Frank watched with a growing feeling of disappointment and humiliation. No one said anything to him, but everyone helped to clean up the blood from the floor and even Frank’s hands for him, wiping them clean without a single word. 

Once everything was as clean as they could get it, and Jacob’s hand was back to normal, they all moved away and went about their business like they had been doing when Frank had first walked into the warehouse. 

Frank got the clear impression that they had all been biding their time to see what he could do, and now it was apparent he couldn’t do anything, they had all lost interest. 

“Maybe I should go home.” Frank whispered softly to himself, staring at his hands resting in his lap. His jeans were spattered with drops of blood, and his hands still had rusty stains on them from the blood that hadn’t wiped off. He wanted nothing more than to get into a shower and stay there for several years. 

“Don’t feel bad Frank.” Jacob moved to sit next to Frank, gently laying his hand on his knee in a gesture of comfort. “I’m afraid everyone here were all pretty much experts at healing by the time I found them, they’re not used to me bringing anyone in who isn’t.” 

“They don’t like me.” Frank nodded, not needing Jacob to tell him that to know it. 

“They’re just unsure, that’s all.” Jacob squeezed Frank’s knee and smiled kindly at him. “I knew they would be, that’s why it’s important I train you here, so you can all get to know each other and come to trust each other.”

Frank looked around the warehouse at everyone sat doing their own thing. None of them were looking at him anymore, not even excited Mckayla. 

“They’re going to help me train you. I just wanted everyone to get a feel of where you’re at now, I bet they’re all actually planning how they’re going to help you right now.” Jacob sounded so sure of himself, but when Frank glanced around the room again he couldn’t stop the doubts worrying inside him.

“I’m not sure any training is going to help me… Are you _sure_ I’m one of you?” He huffed, feeling frustrated and upset. “I’ve only ever healed one person, and I’m not even sure that _really_ happened.” 

“It _did_ happen Frank.” Jacob assured him, touching his cheek to make him meet his gaze. “We were all like this when we first started. Some people find it easier than others, it’s true, but you’ve barely even started to discover yourself yet. Give yourself a month or two - you’ll see a huge change.”

“Uhuh.” Frank agreed with Jacob just to make him stop talking. He didn’t feel like training anymore. He didn’t feel like doing anything anymore. 

“How about we try again.” 

“Can’t I just go home?” Frank sighed, lowering his gaze away from Jacob’s. “I feel kind of tired…”

Disappointment was clear on Jacob’s face, but after a few seconds of thinking about it he finally nodded his assent. 

“Alright… Maybe you should get some rest. We can start your training properly the day after tomorrow.” 

 

“God, you wouldn’t believe the amount of sex we’re having.”

“I’m not sure I want to.”

“Seriously Mikey, its _crazy_ , even for us!” 

“Wow Gerard -”

“It’s like I can’t stop thinking about him. Even when he’s here. I just want to be all over him all the time, I don’t even know why, it’s so different to anything I’ve felt before.”

“Maybe it’s a sign things are getting better.” 

“Maybe…” Gerard didn’t sound too sure, but he at least fell silent, stopping his rambling which had been going on for the past ten minutes. 

On the other end of the phone Mikey waited for a moment, half expecting Gerard to jump straight back into his nattering about his and Frank’s sex life. His brother rarely talked about his sexual activities, and certainly never to the extent he was then, but he just couldn’t seem to stop. Now he finally had, Mikey wasn’t sure what to say. 

“So uh, you decided to call me just to let me know you’ve been having tons of sex?” He finally asked, a smirk clear in his voice. 

Gerard groaned and flopped down onto his back, pressing his free hand through his hair. He was lying on his and Frank’s bed, where he had been lying most of the day, inhaling Frank’s scent off his pillow. 

“I think there’s something wrong with me Mikey.” He whispered, his voice raspy. “I don’t know what… But something. Like something inside me has broken. It’s like… Like my lust was a switch and it’s been broken on.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Mikey scoffed, laughing at Gerard over the phone. “You’re just feeling hot, that’s all. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to sleep with your lover all the time.”

“No but Mikey this is _all the time_.” Gerard stressed, squeezing his eyes shut. “Like… He’s not here right now, but I know as soon as he gets home I’ll want him so much. And the weird thing is he seems to always want it too. It’s not normal.”

“Since when have we ever been normal?” Mikey chuckled, sounding more amused than concerned. “Look Gee, are you really trying to tell me that you’re worried here?” He asked, the tone of his voice making it clear what he thought about it all. 

“I…” Gerard hesitated, trying to think clearly. That was half of the problem really, the fact that he couldn’t think clearly. He hadn’t been able to think clearly for days, not since the day he had fucked Frank in the kitchen. 

“I don’t know.” He eventually managed to say, and he meant it to. “Do you think I should be?”

“Hell no!” Mikey laughed loudly over the phone. “I think you should be enjoying yourself and stop being so weird about it all.” 

“Hm.” Gerard bit his lip and considered that for a moment. “Maybe.” He finally consented, trying to make sense of it all in his lust addled brain. Maybe he _was_ being weird. He was an incubus after all, sex was kind of what he was designed for. Maybe Mikey was right…

“Look, Gerard. You _love_ Frank, and you’ve been making some real changes for him. You’re both going through some heavy shit right now with this Jacob guy, and maybe this is all just… ya know, manifesting into…”

“Sex?” Gerard finished for him, not sure if that sounded ridiculous or brilliant. “You think that makes sense?”

“I think it makes more sense than you being broken.” Gerard could hear Mikey shrugging even through his voice. “Quit worrying alright? If you start having so much sex that it’s ruining your life then call me again.” Mikey was sniggering now, and Gerard couldn’t help but roll his eyes and sigh. 

“Fine.” He said coolly, rolling onto his side and idly running his hand over Frank’s side of the bed. “Forget I even called you asshole. I’m going now.” 

“Good. Go have sex.” Mikey retorted, still laughing loudly down the phone even as Gerard hung up and tossed his own phone to the side. 

Gerard huffed loudly and rolled onto his front, burying his face in his arms and squeezing his eyes shut. Now he didn’t have Mikey to talk to he felt just as crazy as he had before he had called him. When he had told him he couldn’t stop thinking about Frank he had _really_ meant it. It was constant, it was _exhausting_ , and it had only been for a couple of days. 

Gerard groaned as he inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of Frank from the sheets. He was losing his mind again, he could feel it… Oh but it felt so _good_.

Gerard gritted his teeth and groaned inwardly, pressing his hips down hard into the mattress. He could feel himself getting hard again - he’d been doing it all day. He couldn’t help it, just thinking about Frank was doing it to him. He desperately wished he was home, he couldn’t even sulk about the fact he was with Jacob, he just wanted him _back_.

As if in answer to his prayers he heard the sound of the front door being slammed shut and almost instantly after the sound of Frank calling his name.

“Frank?” Gerard gasped, lifting his head up and feeling a ripple of desire down his spine. “FRANK!” He shouted back, a little too loudly in his excitement. “I’m upstairs!”

“You wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had.” Frank grumbled as he walked up to their bedroom. Even the sounds of his footsteps was getting Gerard unbelievably hot. 

“Me too…” Gerard groaned through clenched teeth, his cock throbbing in his jeans. “Frank…” He whined, burying his face in the pillows again.

“I met all of Jacob’s friends - well I say friends I don’t even know if they are his friends - and I swear Gee it’s so obvious that they - oh.” Frank fell short as he stepped into the room and saw Gerard practically humping the mattress. Ordinarily he would have been too surprised to move, but right then it seemed almost natural for Gerard to be doing such a thing. 

“I’ve missed you so much.” Gerard growled, rolling his whole body forward in a seductive, aching wave. “Need you right now.” He arched his back and turned his head to look at Frank, his eyes deep swirling pools of black. “ _Right. Now._ ”

Frank certainly didn’t need telling twice.He yanked his shirt over his head and tripped out of his jeans on the way to the bed, falling down naked onto it and straight into Gerard’s arms. 

There was something wonderful about being able to just dive on each other without thinking about it. It wasn’t exactly the most natural thing in the world, and deep down both men knew there was something going on but whether it was something going on in one or both of them, they didn’t know. And neither had the capacity to think about it, not when they were both completely preoccupied with jumping the others bones.


	9. The story of the holy lands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a sort of warning, I don't know if this requires a warning or not but better to mention it just in case eh? 
> 
> This chapter contains extremely inaccurate information regarding Christianity and Jesus. It's based very loosely off a conspiracy theory I remember reading eons ago and don't remember all that clearly at all, mixed with the very limited biblical knowledge I have. I don't want to step on anybody's faith here, and so if you think this is something you might be sensitive about please keep in mind this is fiction and I by no means support the claims (do they count as claims?) made by characters in this chapter. 
> 
> Other than that, I hope you guys enjoy because yay things are actually happening!
> 
> xo

Frank couldn’t remember the last time he’d had Gerard on his knees, or whether he ever had at all. It was usually him on the floor, and Gerard against the wall, and his hair being pulled on and his mouth being fucked. 

The role reversal was exciting, and surprisingly easy to achieve. 

Frank had needed a cigarette… He was needing them more often these days. He had been leaning against the wall, just whilst he lit up, intending to go straight downstairs afterwards to meet Jacob for another intense day of training. 

Gerard had arrived whilst he was taking the first drag from his cigarette and he had been pinned against the wall ever since. 

Gerard had stalked over to him, all dripping hair and naked body, fresh from his morning shower. He had kissed him hard, just once, and then dropped to his knees without needing any sort of encouragement from Frank. He had parted Frank’s legs with his hands and then nuzzled against his inner thighs. His open mouth pressed hard to his crotch and worked him into an erection before he even unzipped his jeans.

Frank would usually have choked on his cigarette smoke and probably set the cottage on fire; but in the past week he’d become rather accustomed to situations like this, had even instigated most of them, and so he managed to keep his cool just enough to continue smoking as Gerard pulled his cock free of his jeans and wrapped his glorious lips around him.

Frank gave a low hiss and jerked his hips forward, planting his free hand firmly in Gerard’s hair. He gripped tight and rode through the first wave of pleasure by arching his spine and tilting his head back, letting his mouth hang open. 

Gerard slid his hands up Frank’s thighs to rest on his hips, pinning him to the wall and holding him still so he could suck right down to his root. Gerard squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating on relaxing his throat whilst his tongue worked slowly round Frank’s shaft. The smell of Frank’s sweet muskiness made Gerard feel dizzy, and the softness of his foreskin felt as good as velvet against his tongue.  
Gerard sucked with more vigour as he grew more and more turned on, fighting the urge to let one hand wander down to his own erection. Above him Frank moaned deliciously around every drag of his cigarette, his hips twitching beneath Gerard’s hands and his cock twitching in his mouth. 

Gerard swept up suddenly, sucking hard and bringing the foreskin up over Frank’s tip for a moment before chasing it back again with his tongue. He bobbed his head for a few seconds and then swirled his tongue back down to the base. 

“Fucking hell, Gerard…” Frank’s hands were shaking by the time he was halfway through the cigarette, one hand tangled deep in Gerard’s wet hair. 

Gerard made a low, growling noise in the base of his throat and pulled back to suck on Frank’s tip. His tongue, hot, wet and teasing, made a slow sweep around the glans to elicit more vulgar sounds from Frank’s mouth. 

“Oh fuck! Fuck yes… Fuck, suck me Gee, please…” Frank gasped, nearly dropping the cigarette as he arched his back and thrust himself deeper into Gerard’s mouth. His cock was throbbing and he was riding through each sweet tug in his balls by pulling harder on Gerard’s hair. 

Gerard opened his eyes just enough to look up at Frank’s face and admire the pleasure that contorted his whole body. The sight alone made Gerard’s insides squirm, and that paired with Frank’s smoke-raspy voice and twitching cock in his mouth, Gerard felt almost close to coming. 

Frank couldn’t stop himself from drooling more obscenities as he rocked his hips back and forth, practically unable to breathe. He was getting close, dangerously close, and he was taking drags from the cigarette just instinctively as Gerard sucked and pulled and worked him into oblivion.

Frank’s moans were the most stunning things Gerard had ever heard as he made his lover cum hard into his mouth. He took him down deeper into his throat and then dragged his lips back to the tip, gathering up every drop of ejaculate and swallowing it down. 

Frank slumped against the wall, panting and quivering all over. He continued to make soft, whining sounds until Gerard finally pulled away, giving him chance to catch his breath back.

Gerard smirked up at Frank, shaking from the force of his own arousal. He took the cigarette from Frank’s slack fingers and finished it off himself, breathing the smoke into his lungs. His erection was starting to ache unbearably, in desperate need of Frank’s touch. 

It took a minute or two for Frank to come back to himself, although his head still felt fuzzy. He looked down at Gerard and grinned deviously, a million ideas rushing to his mind about what they could do next. He suddenly had the unbearable desire to tie Gerard to the bed and torture him all day long, his fingers practically twitching with the need to get some rope and twist it around each of his lovers limbs.

Gerard gazed up at Frank, his eyes wanton. He was still breathing heavily, just waiting for Frank to make the next move. Frank stepped forward, started to bend down.. 

The sound of the front door knocker resounding through the cottage slammed them both out of the moment. 

“Shit.” Frank cursed, snapping back to reality and glancing at the clock on the bedside table. “Jacob.” 

“No!” Gerard groaned, his eyes swirling instantly to black as he filled with rage and frustration. “Just ignore him - pretend we’re not here.” He gasped, grabbing Frank’s legs and clinging to him. His body was burning with lust, he would go insane if Frank didn’t relieve him right now.

“Don’t be stupid.” Frank hissed, half laughing and half groaning as he tried to walk out of Gerard’s grip. “He _knows_ we’re in.” 

Jacob had picked up Frank every morning at the same time for the past two weeks. Every day they had done eight hours of training before Jacob brought Frank home again. Jacob was always on time, and Frank was always ready.

“Frankie please!” Gerard begged, clinging onto Frank with all his strength. “Just make him wait! You can’t leave me like this.” He growled, looking up at his lover with his deep black eyes. 

Frank met Gerard’s gaze and felt a deep pull in his stomach. He usually hated the ‘demon eyes’ as he called them, but in that moment he found them strangely sexy. He was sorely tempted to do just as Gerard asked and leave Jacob waiting in the cold. But he had already had a couple of mornings where it had been obvious he’d been having sex only moments before and Jacob always seemed much less friendly on those days. And what with Frank’s lack of progress with the training, he didn’t dare piss Jacob off by making him wait for them to fuck.

“I’m sorry Gee, but I really have to go.” Frank zipped up his jeans and tugged the creases out of his t-shirt. He struggled across the room, Gerard still attached to his legs, and picked up his scarf. 

“Frank _please_. It _hurts_.” Gerard whined pitifully, his head too foggy to really comprehend that Frank would ever leave him when he was so desperate. 

“Gerard!” Frank laughed, enjoying Gerard’s begging far too much. It struck him with an idea and he couldn’t stop the dark grin that spread across his face. 

“Gerard, listen to me.” Frank crouched down quickly, cupping Gerard’s cheek in one hand and forcing him to meet his gaze. “I really have to go… but if you’re good, and wait for me to come home tonight… then I promise I’ll sort this out for you.” Frank brushed his free hand down over Gerard’s erection, just the lightest of touches to drive him crazier.

Gerard gasped roughly, jerking his hips forward but Frank’s hand was already gone. 

“I want to fuck you tonight.” Frank whispered, his own voice deep and gravelly. Gerard’s head swam from the sound of it and the force of his words. He rarely bottomed, and never had for Frank at all, but suddenly he wanted nothing more. 

“You can fuck me now.” He whispered back, his voice tinged with pleading but Frank only chuckled and shook his head, still cupping Gerard’s face. 

“I don’t think so.” He purred, his grin devious. “I’m going to go train. And whilst I’m gone, I want you to spend all day lying on our bed and getting yourself ready for me.” Frank leant forward and pressed a quick, fiery kiss to Gerard’s lips. 

“O - Okay… How?” Gerard asked weakly, his body buzzing with anticipation. 

“When I get home, I want you open and ready. There’s lube in the drawer, but don’t you dare come until I get back.” Frank kissed Gerard’s cheek and then got to his feet, sweeping out of the room as the door knocked loudly again.

Gerard was left kneeling on the bedroom floor, still painfully hard and reeling from Frank’s words. 

 

“No, no, no, no!” Sam slammed his bloody hand down onto the table and glared at Frank with acidic green eyes. “You’re not concentrating hard enough!”

“I’m trying!” Frank insisted, scowling back at the man he had come to like least out of everyone in the warehouse. “This isn’t easy you know!”

“You should be further than this by now!” Sam snapped, ripping sheets of paper off a roll of paper towels and pressing them hard against the knife slash on his palm. “You’ve made absolutely no progress!”

“Enough Sam.” Jacob’s voice was as calm as ever and his touch was light as he took Sam’s wounded hand in both of his and healed it within seconds. “Perhaps someone else should take over for a little while.” 

“Whatever.” Sam scoffed, the legs of his chair scraping harshly across the floor as he pushed it back and got to his feet. “The man is useless, I don’t know what you even see in him.” Sam met Jacob’s gaze for a moment, his pale face twisted up in disgust. Jacob looked back at him with no expression. 

“Just take a few minutes.” He told him softly, not flinching when Sam shoved past him with a snarl. 

Frank kept silent in his seat, his cheeks burning with shame. He still couldn’t heal a single wound, despite being assured that Sam had a ‘natural ability’ in teaching others how to heal. With each new day the man had got more and more frustrated, and now it was painfully clear that he detested Frank.

“Let’s just continue.” Jacob suggested, smiling at Frank and going to sit in Sam’s empty seat but Patrick moved it aside before he could. 

“I’ll have a go.” He said, his irish accent making him sound mischievous even before Frank saw his playful grin. “We’re supposed to take it in turns anyway.”

Patrick pulled the chair back up to the table and sat opposite Frank, picking up the knife Sam had left there and slashing his own palm without a seconds hesitation. Everyone in the group, even little Mckayla, were eerily at ease with wounding themselves in the effort of training Frank, although Patrick had only had one session with him before this.

Everyone had agreed, at the start of the two weeks, that it would be a group effort in getting Frank’s abilities up to scratch. But so far Sam and Jacob had been the main people trying, although Frank got the impression this was more to do with them taking over than on anyone else being unwilling to try. 

“Okay, show me what you got.” Patrick offered Frank his bleeding hand and waited expectantly for him to do something. 

Frank sighed heavily and took the hand offered him though he was feeling far too dejected to even try to heal it. Over the two weeks that had passed by he had been given all sorts of advice on how to heal. It turned out that each person had a different method for healing, less to do with physical action and more to do with mental motivations. It was clear that it was a deeply personal ability, and that really Frank just needed to unlock it in himself. 

Frank had thought often back to the day he had healed the motorbike rider, but more and more he was feeling like he couldn’t possibly have healed them and that this was all just a mistake. He desperately wanted to heal someone and prove his worth, but he still didn’t feel any different than he ever had. 

Frank tried to focus his mind on the wound in Patrick’s hand, staring at the dripping blood and trying to will the wound to close. He could feel deep down that it wasn’t going to work, and though he tried and tried, and willed it with all his might, after half an hour Jacob had no choice but to step in and heal Patrick himself before he lost too much blood. 

“Sam’s right.” Frank sighed, wiping his hands clean of blood. “I’m no use. I just can’t do it.”

“You’ll get there.” Jacob assured him without hesitation. His faith in Frank was unfailing, but Frank couldn’t understand why. 

“Sure, everyone takes a different amount of time to get it down.” Patrick smiled kindly at Frank, washing his own hands, now both perfectly unharmed once more. “Maybe you’re just worrying too much about it. Sometimes you can mentally block yourself if you’re focusing on other things.”

“Probably focusing too much on sex with his incubus boyfriend.” Sam suddenly piped up, his face sour. 

“Hey!” Jacob cut in before Frank could even think of a retort, holding his hand up at Sam. “Don’t.” It was just one word, but it was laden with meaning, and Frank could suddenly see clearly that his relationship had obviously been the subject of conversation many times before when he wasn’t around. 

“No, do.” He stepped closer to Sam, starting to frown. “I want to hear this.”

“I said _no_.” Jacob’s usually soft voice was suddenly loud and commanding. Frank almost flinched and backed off, but Sam didn’t pay any attention to Jacob and closed the gap between himself and Frank with three quick strides. 

“He said he wants to hear it.” He sneered, eyes fixed on Frank. “So I’ll tell him.”

“Sam-” Across the room Sofia stepped forward and Gisele got to her feet. Both women looked uneasy, but Dayo, silent and mysterious as always, held an arm up to stop them from coming any closer. 

“You don’t belong here.” Sam’s voice was soft, but still poisonous and he kept his attention solely on Frank. “People call us angels, do you know that? You can’t be called something so pure when you’re being fucked by a creature like that.” 

“A creature like _what_ exactly?” Frank hissed, stepping up even closer to Sam so that their faces were almost touching. His teeth were clenched and his hands curled into fists at his sides, starting to tremble with the force of his anger. “You don’t know shit about Gerard.”

“I know that he’s an incubus. I know that he’s using you as a power source. I know what incubi are good at - warping people’s minds and turning them into sex slaves. And oh Frank, it is _obvious_ that he’s got you hook, line and sinker.” Sam practically spat the words into Frank’s face and for a second Frank was certain he was going to throttle him.

“You don’t even know who this man is.” Sam suddenly jabbed a finger towards Jacob, confusing Frank enough to abate some of his blood lust. “He has lived for _thousands_ of years, he knows the truth about Jesus Christ for fucks sake and you - YOU - don’t even wonder about it because you’re so wrapped up in your _boyfriend_.” Sam hissed the word like an expletive and Frank found himself speechless.

“Alright, now that’s enough.” Jacob appeared beside them without either of the two men realising he was walking over. He pried them apart from each other with gentle hands, his eyes full of concern. 

“I’m not done with him.” Sam snapped, making a futile attempt to get round Jacob. 

“Yes you are.” Jacob’s voice took on that commanding tone again. “You’ve had your say, now drop it.”

“But look at him, he doesn’t even care!” Sam’s voice was starting to shake, growing thick as if he was about to cry. “He doesn’t even care who you are or what you know.”

“Sam please.” Jacob turned to face Sam head on, laying his hands on his shoulders and gently shepherding him further away from Frank. “You know how I feel about this… I’m not everything you build me up to be. _Please _, please just shh.”__

__Sam kept his eyes on Frank over Jacob’s shoulder for a moment longer, before finally looking at Jacob and then slowly sinking down onto a cushion on the floor._ _

__The tension in the room was palpable._ _

__Sam bowed his head, resting his forehead against the tips of his fingers. He closed his eyes and fell silent, leaving Frank feeling exposed as everyone turned their attention onto him._ _

__Frank opened his mouth but found that there was nothing that he could say. He was upset and embarrassed, knowing now what everyone thought about him and Gerard. Of course he had known that they didn’t agree with it, but it hurt more than he thought it would to realise they believed he couldn’t heal because Gerard was warping his mind._ _

__“I…” Frank hesitated, his heart racing. “I think I should just go.”_ _

__“Don’t be ridiculous.” Jacob sighed, turning away from Sam and hurrying back over to Frank. “Please stay. Things got out of hand but there’s no reason why we shouldn’t keep training - let’s just persevere.”_ _

__“I don’t want to persevere.” Frank snapped, a lump building in his throat and taking him by surprise. “I’ve been trying for two weeks now and nothing is happening.”_ _

__“I know, I know.” Jacob sighed, gently touching Frank’s shoulder. “It’s frustrating, but if you give up then you won’t be any better off.”_ _

__Jacob’s touch was soothing, as it always was. Frank was getting used to the way it felt when Jacob touched him, not finding it so electric anymore. It was like the touch of an old friend, although he was starting to suspect he didn’t know Jacob as well as he thought he did._ _

__“Why don’t we take a break.” Giselle walked over to Frank and Jacob, her smile warm and kind. “Things are a bit tense now, and I’m sure Frank is wondering what Sam was referring to.” Giselle took Frank’s hand in both of hers, patting it tenderly. “Jacob is a wonderful story-teller. Would you like to hear about his time with Jesus?”_ _

__“What?” Frank had heard what Sam had said but hadn’t really let it sink in that he was implying that Jacob had known Jesus Christ. He looked at Jacob uncertainly, not sure what to think. “I… Yeah, sure.”_ _

__Jacob looked uncomfortable for the fleetest of seconds, but with just a little persuading from Giselle he agreed to the break._ _

__Within half an hour everyone had sat down on their cushions, piling them around Sam though he didn’t open his eyes or look up at them. Cups of tea, coffee and wine were poured and Jacob settled himself down opposite them all, smiling despite himself at his little audience._ _

__“Well, everyone else has heard this all before, but just so you know Frank I don’t like to talk about this. Religion is a delicate thing and I don’t want to contradict anyone’s feelings on it.” Jacob had opted for wine and he took a sip from his cup then, looking a little nervous._ _

__Frank’s interest was well and truly piqued, and he nodded his understanding._ _

__“I’ve had enough things shaking up my faith recently, it doesn’t matter what you throw at me.” Frank had used to depend on his faith when he was young, but he’d forgotten it a little during his relationship with alcohol, and after everything with Gerard and Ava and even Jacob, he was convinced there was no God anyway._ _

__“Okay well…” Jacob hesitated, figuring out where to begin. It wasn’t a story he enjoyed telling. He didn’t like to sound like anything important or interesting, it certainly had never felt like that at the time…_ _

__“As you know I’m… quite old.” This statement was met with a few chuckles from the others, but Frank remained silent, listening intently to Jacob._ _

__“When I was a young man - before I stopped aging - I lived in what you now know as the holy lands. At the time it wasn’t very holy. I worked a farm with my father. It was just a small bit of land, we only grew enough to sustain our family. We had a goat for milk, and we lived close enough to the Jordan river to fish. It was a simple life, but it was simple times then.”_ _

__Jacob paused for a little while, thinking back to a time that was so long ago it barely felt real anymore. He couldn’t picture the faces of his mother or father. He couldn’t picture their farm or their home, although he could describe it well enough just from habit. It was like a dream that grew less clear with each new time he tried to recall it._ _

__“My name then was Ya’akov, I only started to use Jacob when my birth name began to sound out-dated.” Jacob smiled tightly, as if the thought gave him pain._ _

__“When did you realise you could heal people?” Frank asked, never having thought to ask before but suddenly he was unbearably curious._ _

__“It was when he met Jesus!” Mckayla announced excitedly, but Jacob held a hand up to stop her with a soft smile._ _

__“It wasn’t exactly like that.” He reminded her, smiling softly at Frank as he explained. “I was about twenty seven at the time, if I remember correctly. I know I was getting to an age where my parents were pushing for me to start my own family. Back then thirty was considered far too old to be looking for a first bride, and my parents were worried I was never going to get married._ _

__“I don’t remember why I hadn’t married by then. Obviously I’d just never met anyone, but arranged marriages were more common then… Well, for whatever reason I wasn’t married and my parents were getting uneasy about it._ _

__“Around the same time stories were starting to circulate about a man from Jerusalem performing miracles. It was said that he could cure any ailment and heal any wound. Strange rumours started up, about him being a demigod or a son of a god, about him gaining followers and telling tales of a new religion._ _

__“Well… I didn’t pay much attention then. I was working the farm and trying to find a bride and generally going about my simple life. And then one day my parents introduced me to a girl. Her family had travelled from Bethlehem to be closer to the river, and they had brought enough animals with them that if they put them on our farm we’d be able to farm meat as well._ _

__“My father arranged a marriage in no time at all, and so the girls family shared our farm with us and within a few months we were married and expecting our first child.”_ _

__“You were married?” Frank interrupted without thinking, blushing when he snapped Jacob out of his reverie. “Sorry, I just…”_ _

__“Can’t imagine it?” Jacob finished for him, smiling. “I know… I have never married since, and even then we weren’t married for even one year. You know, it’s awful but, I can’t even remember her name.” Jacob’s smile faded and his eyes grew misty. The atmosphere in the room immediately saddened, and Frank felt a strange sinking in his stomach. But Jacob continued his story when Giselle prompted him to._ _

__“So… I married, and for the duration of the pregnancy I worked the farm as always and my new bride worked with our mothers to keep the house and cook for us. I believe I was happy then, it is so hard to remember... ” Jacob screwed his face up for a moment, but then shook his head and carried on._ _

__“There were still rumours going round about the healer, more and more with each day. The village I lived in began to buzz with it, and people said that he was travelling in our direction. I don’t think I was interested at the time, I had a pregnant wife to take care of and the baby was fast approaching._ _

__“The next thing I remember is the birth itself, and that’s mostly a blur too. All I remember is screaming and so much blood, I didn’t know what to do or how to help, that was a woman’s job. I kept outside the birthing room with the other men. From the snatches of conversation I heard from within it became clear things weren’t going well, and some of the neighbours began to talk of the healer. They said he was coming to our village that day, that he would save my wife…” Jacob tailed off again, waiting a long while before continuing._ _

__“When the screaming stopped everything felt so silent… Most of the men had disappeared, rushing out of the village in search of this healer. I was called back into the house, I don’t remember who by or if they were crying… But my wife was dead, and the baby they put into my arms was blue. He had been born with the cord wrapped around his neck and had suffocated, or so they told me. They had cut the cord to try and free him but it was too late…”_ _

__Frank felt a lump in his throat as Jacob stopped to take a deep breath. He didn’t know what to say, whether to even attempt consolation. It had all been so long ago, but he felt the pain as freshly as if he had stood with Jacob in that room himself._ _

__“I remember holding my son and feeling so much anger and hurt and... I don’t know. It just felt so cruel, so terribly unfair. I held the baby to my chest and I remember crying, wishing that he at least had survived. That death hadn’t been so cruel as to take them both and then… Then…” Jacob shook his head, struggling to remember. “The room was filled with the sound of a baby squalling, and there was a stranger in the doorway watching me… watching us.”_ _

__“The baby..?” Frank gasped and Jacob met his gaze, nodding._ _

__“The baby, my son, was crying. Screaming actually, with all the life in the world. I couldn’t believe it, and I would have dropped him if the stranger hadn’t taken him from me.”_ _

__Frank stared at Jacob in amazement, lost in the story. Around him everyone was rapt with attention although they had all heard the tale before; even Sam had opened his eyes and was silently watching Jacob over his fingertips._ _

__“The stranger took me and the child out of the house, away from the body of my wife. I remember vaguely something about him wanting to take new life out of the sight of death, but it’s all so foggy now I don’t know what he said exactly…”_ _

__“Was he Jesus?” Frank asked before he could stop himself. He couldn’t believe he was even asking the question, feeling his heart race with excitement and even some nervousness._ _

__Jacob smiled softly at Frank, able to see the hope in his expression and he felt a tinge of guilt as he shook his head._ _

__“No… His name was Ya’akov.”_ _

__“Like you?” Frank asked, amazed._ _

__“Yes.” Jacob nodded, smiling. “Only he’s now known as James.”_ _

__“Jesus’ brother?” Frank gasped, his head spinning with all the implications._ _

__“That’s right. James the Just I believe he’s known as in the bible... Brother of Yehoshua, or Jesus, if you like.”_ _

__“Oh my God…” Frank breathed, his head swimming. “James was the healer? Did he heal your son?”_ _

__“No.” Jacob sighed, his smile fading. “I healed my son.”_ _

__Frank’s jaw dropped, but he was speechless._ _

__“It was the first time I had ever healed anyone. I know now that my son must have been on the brink of death, but he can’t have been dead like I first thought, or else I would never have been able to save him. He was choked of oxygen and nothing could have saved him except a miracle… I performed that miracle for the first time, unbeknownst to myself, and James was the only witness to it.”_ _

__“So, could James heal at all? What about Jesus?” Frank was bursting with questions and he could barely sit still as Jacob chuckled and held a hand up to reassure him._ _

__“James _could_ heal, just as I could. Though he had no idea how he could do it, or why. He told me the truth that day, about how he travelled through all of Israel, healing who he could. He wanted me to join him, he believed that we were different for a reason… He believed it was our obligation to use our powers to help those in need.” Jacob paused for a moment, smiling wistfully again. _ _

__“He was a wonderful man. The kindest and most selfless person I have ever met. He had such a way of speaking, so calm and understanding, I think even if he couldn’t heal he would have helped people just by being present in their moments of pain and soothing them. But as it was, he could heal ,and so could I, and somehow he convinced me to leave my home and my baby behind and travel with him, healing as we went._ _

__“Neither of us knew at the time that we were unable to age, and James never got the chance to find out. As we travelled through the holy lands we heard tales of another healer, a man who could perform other miracles too. We heard about water being turned to wine, and even the dead being restored to life. Where we didn’t know how we healed and didn’t try to explain it, we started to hear stories about miracles being performed by the son of a God, of a man who could ensure your ascension to paradise when you died._ _

__“I could barely believe some of the things I heard, and the stories seemed to bother James too. As years went by and we heard more and more about Yehoshua, we started to hear of his followers, of disciples, of angels and heaven and God and commandments and all sorts of things which sounded crazy. James especially was troubled by it, and after five years of travelling together I discovered why._ _

__“We came upon Yehoshua in Jerusalem, preaching to a crowd of people. We watched him, and I admit I was quite taken in by him. I was eager to meet him properly, and once he was finished speaking James muscled his way through to him; I thought he wanted to meet him too… It turned out though, that he already knew him. Imagine my shock to hear him call him brother, to see the two of them come together in bitter rivalry.” Jacob shook his head, sighing deeply._ _

__“James tried to address the crowd and discredit everything his brother had said. He told them that he was a liar, that he couldn’t perform a single miracle. That _we_ could, that we would prove it and heal anyone brought forward, but that we couldn’t promise any favour with a higher power._ _

__“Well… I was mortified. He had never put me on the spot before, never made me feel like I was just performing a show. I didn’t want to heal in front of the crowd. We had always done our healing privately, preferably with just the person we were healing present, or if they insisted, just one or two members of their family. I refused to heal in front of the crowd, who were already hostile after hearing what they believed to be blasphemous slander about their saviour._ _

__“James was furious, less with me I think than with his brother. But Yehoshua had so many followers, and his chosen twelve disciples as well. I wasn’t about to get into a fight and so I left, abandoning both James and Jesus, determined to return home instead._ _

__“James caught up with me before the day was over, but I had already had enough. He agreed to accompany back to my parents farm, and for a while things were okay. I felt a little betrayed that he had never told me the other healer was his brother, but we didn’t talk about it._ _

__“We heard more stories though, about the Roman Caeser, Tiberius, growing disgruntled. He referred to himself as a God on Earth, and Jesus was basically disputing that. By the time we made it back to my parents farm Jesus had been tried for blasphemy in six trials, and crucified._ _

__“The news didn’t reach us until two weeks later. James was still with me at the farm, helping me get things back in order. Since I had left my family had suffered, my father was too old to tend the farm alone and my wife’s family had left with her death. They took my son with them, I never saw him again. I was low, full of guilt and disillusioned. James wanted to help me, I believe he bore some of the guilt as well, but when he heard of his brothers death he left too, I can’t remember his reason why.”_ _

__Jacob was silent for a long time, resting his chin on his knuckles like Rodin’s thinker. Everyone else was silent too, watching him and waiting for him to carry on. Frank got the impression the conclusion of his story was near._ _

__“James continued healing, sometimes I heard word of him. He never claimed to be the son of God or anything like it. He tried to deny Jesus’ stories everywhere he went, but he too was eventually crucified. I suppose the Romans felt he was keeping the story too alive, even though he was trying to discredit it. Either way, he was killed and I was left the only healer I knew of for hundreds of years._ _

__“But the stories Jesus told lived on, and though it took a couple of centuries, his teachings and his faith started to take over and more stories were piled onto it, tales of a virgin birth and so on. I was simply left alone, desperately trying to understand why I was different and why everyone I knew and loved died around me whilst I remained unchanged… I felt fixed, frozen in time, and for centuries I travelled the world just in the hope of taking my mind off it. It wasn’t until I was three hundred years old that I met other people like me, and as my abilities have grown I’ve been able to meet more and more healers, almost being able to sense them if they’re strong enough. It’s taken a long time, but I’m not lonely anymore.”_ _

__Jacob ended with a smile and finished the last of his wine._ _

__Frank’s cup of tea was cold and forgotten by then. He gawped at Jacob, amazed by everything he had said and unable to think of an adequate response. He still had so many questions, but he didn’t know where to begin._ _

__“You see?” It was Sam who broke the silence first, making Frank jump. “This man is the closest thing you’ll get to Christ himself, and you never even knew it.” Sam was looking at Frank with a condescending stare, his eyes cold._ _

__“But was Christ a fake then?” Frank asked, ignoring Sam and managing to pick one of the questions plaguing him out of the mess his mind had become. He looked at Jacob again, his eyes imploring._ _

__“I wouldn’t like to say.” Jacob shook his head, his tone implying he was asked similar questions all the time. “I don’t know if Jesus was a fake or if James just said he was. I never witnessed anything to prove it either way. I never even spoke to the man. I don’t know if there is a God, I don’t know anything about Christianity for certain at all. Some people hear this story and want to put me on a pedestal,” Jacob looked at Sam briefly, “but all I was, was a brief witness of Christ himself, and his brother meant far more to me.”_ _

__Frank glanced behind himself at Sam for a moment and saw that his jaw was tense. In fact everyone seemed a little uncomfortable, even Jacob._ _

__The moment was broken when Jacob glanced at one of the many clocks strewn around in the things clustered in the warehouse, and suggested that perhaps they should call it a day._ _

__“I’m sure you’ve got too much on your mind now to concentrate on training.” He chuckled and Frank nodded his agreement, relieved that he was going to be allowed to go home a little earlier than usual._ _

__He got to his feet and said his goodbyes to everyone. All of the women gave him tight hugs, and Patrick clapped him heartily on the back. Dayo simply nodded his head at him, which was nothing unusual, and Sam ignored him completely which was only mildly colder than usual._ _

__Jacob grabbed his coat and scarf and left the warehouse with Frank, walking him home as he always did. As they set off through the snow they talked softly, and Jacob tried his best to explain why Sam was so hostile._ _

__“I’m afraid Sam is deeply religious. I was wary about telling him of my past when we first met, I thought it would disillusion him, but in fact it made his faith even stronger. He now believes that I’m living proof that Christianity is the one true religion, I think he sees me as something of a messenger from God. I’ve tried to stop him thinking like that but it’s no good, whenever I try he just seems to see it as me being in denial.”_ _

__“As if you’d still be in denial after two thousand years.” Frank scoffed, huddled inside his thick winter coat._ _

__“I know.” Jacob chuckled, snow crunching beneath his and Frank’s feet. The streets were dark and quiet, the snow on the ground glistening under streetlamps._ _

__“Sam is an exceptional healer. His abilities are so strong, considering he has only been this way for half a century now. He sees our conflict with the demons as a biblical thing, which is fine if it keeps him focused, but unfortunately it also means he’s extremely distrusting of you.”_ _

__“No kidding.” Frank sighed, no longer caring what reasons Sam might have for disliking him. The closer he got to his street the more he was thinking about Gerard and what he might be doing right then. He hoped he had done as Frank asked and played with himself all day, never allowing himself to climax. It was such a delicious notion that the last thing on his mind was Sam._ _

__“I’ll talk to him when I go back and try to make him see how much we need you. We _do_ need you Frank. I can sense your abilities like I can in stronger healers. I just don’t understand why you can’t tap into them yet.” Jacob screwed his face up as he pondered over it, but Frank wasn’t really listening anymore. _ _

__He rounded into his street and quickened his pace, rushing as much as he could through the snow without making it too obvious that he was dying to get home. He could see the cottage at last, their bedroom window lit up like a beacon. Frank was getting turned on already._ _

__Jacob was still talking but Frank couldn’t even hear him anymore, he had completely zoned him out. He reached the cottage at last and grabbed the garden gate, only stopping when Jacob touched his wrist._ _

__“Frank, what’s the big rush?” Jacob had been trying to get Frank’s attention for a few seconds by then, and it was clear the man was no longer hearing him. He had practically ran across the street to reach the cottage, and Jacob almost felt the way Frank snapped back to attention when he touched him._ _

__“Are you feeling okay?” Jacob asked, although he was starting to feel a little funny himself. When Frank turned to face him his stomach squirmed strangely and his breathing quickened as if he had run across the road too._ _

__“Of course.” Frank looked at Jacob closely, his pupils dilating slowly. Now that he was looking at Jacob in the glow of the upstairs light, perfectly crisp snow twinkling around him, he found him unbearably attractive._ _

__“Actually… I’m not sure.” Frank changed his mind, his mouth growing dry as he gazed at Jacob and let his eyes wander down the slope of his neck. He wanted to grab his scarf and wind it around his fist, to take control of Jacob and find out if his dark skin tasted any different to Gerard’s pale skin._ _

__“Frank?” Jacob sensed hunger in Frank’s gaze and was alarmed when it raised something animalistic in himself too. He passed his tongue over his lips, his fingers starting to twitch. His mind was clear enough for him to realise something was seriously, seriously wrong, but it was also fogged enough for him to start leaning a little closer to Frank._ _

__“Jacob?” Frank mirrored Jacob’s movement and lifted his hands to rest on the lapels of Jacob’s coat. His eyes followed the path his tongue made across his lips and his stomach did a somersault. “I don’t think Sam would approve if he could see us now.” Frank smirked darkly and a shadow passed over Jacob’s eyes._ _

__“Fuck him.” He scoffed, gripping Frank suddenly by the scarf and yanking him closer so that their bodies collided and their lips met in a sudden kiss._ _

__Frank didn’t seem surprised, he felt like he had been waiting for this to happen for ages. He hooked his arms around Jacob’s neck and pressed tighter to him, kissing him heatedly in the snow._ _

__Jacob cupped Frank’s face in his hands and sucked his lower lip into his mouth, even letting their tongues entwine when Frank parted his lips for him. Neither man was aware of their surroundings anymore, Jacob wouldn’t have even have known his own name if you had asked him for it._ _

__For the longest time the two men kissed and bit and sucked at each other’s mouths, until they were forced to pull apart for air. Frank was panting heavily and Jacob felt faint, but they still would have gone in for more if a soft, cracked voice hadn’t called Frank’s name._ _

__Frank felt like his head was filled with smog, and it was only with a huge amount of effort that he was able to turn it and see Gerard collapsing to his knees in the open doorway of the cottage._ _


	10. Curses

For a second or two, Gerard was lost. 

He had never, never in his whole life, felt this way before. It was like everything he had ever known and believed in went crumbling away from him in one brutal moment; like someone had just kicked the ground from beneath him and sent him tumbling into darkness. 

Gerard had always thought it ridiculous when people described a broken heart. He didn’t believe a heart could physically hurt like that, but now he knew it to be true… The only way he could describe the pain in his chest was by referring to his heart breaking. And more than that, like it was being pulled on either side and made to split agonizingly down the middle.   
Gerard tumbled through the darkness for a good thirty seconds, the whole time just staring at Frank and Jacob in stunned silence. They were still lightly entwined in each other, their faces full of shock. It was impossible to tell what either of them were feeling beyond that. 

Once the thirty seconds of darkness were up, Gerard came to life with a bang. 

The next thing he could feel was anger. Pure, unadulterated anger, consuming him from the inside until it was the only thing he had left. His eyes turned black in an instant and he bared his teeth like an angry dog.

“The fuck are you doing?” He snarled, getting to his feet slowly, his shoulders slightly hunched. He looked like a wild animal, he _felt_ like a wild animal, and all he could focus on was sinking his teeth into Jacob and tearing him apart chunk by bite-size chunk. 

Gerard started to lurch down the garden path, and Frank had just enough time to disentangle himself from Jacob before Gerard flew against him, sending them both sliding through the snow. 

“Gerard, stop!” Frank screamed, almost falling to his knees when a dizzy, pulling sensation took hold of him. It lasted only for a second, just as Jacob hit the ground, like a fish hook being wrenched free from his brain. 

If a hook had been attaching Frank to Jacob, it had now buried itself into Gerard instead. His fist was poised to crunch into Jacob’s jaw but he stopped in mid-flow, staring at Jacob with a stunned, wide-eyed look on his face. 

Jacob’s own look of terror changed to one of bemusement, and Frank could practically see the mist descending over them. 

“Guys? Guys don’t - What are you doing!?” He gasped, burying his hands into his hair and struggling to stay upright as he watched Gerard lean into Jacob and suddenly kiss him. 

“Fuck! Fuck, Jesus, stop it… Fuck!” Frank felt incredibly faint and he began to swoon against the garden wall. His vision blurred and his head swam, his feet starting to slide through the snow as he slumped down onto the sidewalk. 

Jacob’s eyes grew wide where Gerard was kissing him and he came to his senses with a jolt. He gasped and struggled to push Gerard off him, pressing his hands flat against his chest and heaving with all his might. Gerard growled but barely budged and so Jacob did the only other thing he could think of, he bent his knee and brought it up between Gerard’s legs as forcefully as he could. 

Gerard howled with pain and rolled away from Jacob, one hand pressing down between his legs where Jacob had sent his knee, and the other hand trying to stem the blood that pumped out of his bitten lip. 

“Fuck! Are you CRAZY!?” Gerard shouted, rolling onto his front and grabbing a fist full of snow to hold against his lip. 

“Me!? What about you - you kissed me!” Jacob was panting as he struggled onto his feet, his whole body felt like jelly. He glanced over at Frank and gasped, rushing over to help him as he lay, half conscious on the ground. 

“Gerard, get over here and help me!”

The pain in his crotch and his lip helped Gerard’s head clear and he finally managed to turn and see what was happening. When he realised Frank was seconds away from completely fainting he sprang to his feet and dove over to him, pulling him protectively out of Jacob’s arms. 

“You don’t get to touch him!” He growled, his eyes completely black, from the pupil to the whites. His entire body became guarded and he held Frank possessively to his chest, his gaze suspicious as he looked at Jacob. “What did you do to him? Why did he kiss you?”

“I didn’t do anything.” Jacob scoffed, blushing deeply as he realised fully what had happened. “Why did you kiss me?”

“I didn’t, I -” Gerard stopped, a blush creeping onto his cheeks too. Why _had_ he kissed him? Why had he felt so suddenly attracted to Jacob, like he wanted to fuck him right there in the cold? 

“Something is seriously wrong here.” Jacob whispered, starting to feel prickles down his spine. 

“You’re telling me?” Gerard scoffed, looking nervously at Frank and then back at Jacob. “Let’s get inside.” Gerard didn’t particularly want Jacob in his house, but he had too many questions to let him go. He didn’t want to keep Frank in the freezing cold either, so he forced himself to allow Jacob inside, although he locked the door behind him. 

Gerard laid Frank down on the couch in the living room and knelt beside him, looking at him anxiously. 

“What’s happened to him?” He asked softly, holding his hand and gently kissing his knuckles. “Frankie? Can you hear me?”

“He’s fainted.” Jacob said bluntly, pacing the living room with his head thrown back and his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. His mind was whirring over what had just happened and he couldn’t shake the tingling down his spine. He felt horribly like they were being watched. 

“If you let me touch him, I can wake him up.” Jacob offered, not surprised when all he got was a snarl in return. “Suit yourself.” He shrugged, not looking at Gerard. 

“You’re never going to touch him ever again…” Gerard whispered more to himself than Jacob, his black eyes boring into Frank. He felt sick and confused and his head was full of a million questions, but his priority was making sure Frank was okay. 

Jacob continued to pace the room with his hand on his face. His own mind was teeming with questions, but he was starting to feel closer to the answers as he thought back to the overwhelming sensations that had gripped him outside. In fact, being in the cottage he could still feel them, but his anxiety and confusion was helping him to keep focused. 

“Frankie?” Gerard whispered, gingerly touching his fingertips to Frank’s cheek. “Please wake up…” Gerard felt a lump in his throat and he forced it back, not wanting to cry in front of Jacob. He couldn’t stop himself from picturing the two of them together, and even though he was sure there was an explanation, it still hurt… It hurt a hell of a lot.

Jacob finally lowered his hand from his nose and started to look around the room. He began to take measured steps, first towards the window, and then back towards the hallway. He kept perfectly silent, frowning in concentration as he walked back and forth several times. 

Gerard could sense Jacob walking behind him but he ignored him. He didn’t trust himself to not hurt him if he paid him any kind of attention, so he forced himself to just keep looking at Frank, talking softly to him to try and wake him up. 

After five minutes had passed Frank finally began to stir, groaning to himself as his eyelids fluttered open. 

“Frankie!” Gerard gasped, gripping Frank’s hand tighter and leaning closer to him. His heart was pounding and relief washed over him when Frank’s eyes finally opened and their gazes met. “I was so worried.” Gerard half whimpered and half laughed, leaning in quickly to kiss Frank’s cheek, though he couldn’t bear to touch his lips just yet. 

“What happened?” Frank groaned, the room spinning slightly as he tried to sit up. 

“You fainted.” Gerard told him, helping him into a sitting position and supporting his back with his hand. “Are you okay?”

“I…” Frank hesitated, screwing his eyes shut for a moment. “I don’t know…” He admitted, running a hand through his hair. His head still felt heavy and fogged up, and he wasn’t sure what had happened to make him faint. 

“Gerard, Frank,” Jacob suddenly stepped into Frank’s line of vision and everything came swimming back into focus. Frank’s cheeks blazed red and his jaw dropped, a growing sense of shame making him feel sick, but Jacob no longer seemed to be shaken. “I need to see your bedroom.”

Gerard snapped his head round to look at Jacob, his eyes, still an inky black, flashed dangerously and he almost bared his teeth again. 

“What?” He asked, his voice quiet but deadly. Frank looked at him in fear for a second before looking at Jacob again, praying he was just dreaming. That all of it had been a dream. 

“I think something is wrong here, and I think we can find out what it is if we go to your room.” 

“Are you actually insane?” Gerard snarled, watching in horror when Jacob just ignored him and started to head to the door. “No!” Gerard barked, letting go of Frank’s hand and jumping to his feet. “You are not going up there!”

Frank could only stare, mouth agape, as Gerard stormed out of the room, following Jacob into the hallway. Next the sound of two sets of feet pounding up the stairs made the light in the centre of the ceiling shake and Frank practically fell onto the floor as he struggled off the sofa and tried to follow them.

Upstairs Jacob hesitated for just a second on the landing before suddenly turning and throwing open one of the doors. He had selected the bedroom first try and he strode inside, Gerard still behind him and trying to drag him back down the stairs. 

“It’s definitely in here.” Jacob spoke confidently, walking in a large circle around the room, frowning to himself and tiptoeing up at some points only to crouch down at others. Gerard followed him the whole time, demanding that he leave but not trying to physically move him… deep down he was curious to find out what Jacob was thinking. 

“Somewhere… Something… Here…” Jacob was muttering to himself as he twirled around the room, moving everywhere as if he was trying to taste the air in each part of the room. He drew close to the bed three times before staying there, walking round it slowly, stretching up and squatting down, his hands moving through the air the whole time. 

“What are you doing?” Gerard scowled, finally standing still in the centre of the room and just watching Jacob with a mixed look of disgust and intrigue. 

“Can’t you feel it?” Jacob retorted, coming to a stand still. “It’s strongest here.”

“What is he talking about?” It was Frank who spoke this time, appearing in the doorway, breathless and weak. 

Gerard hurried to Frank’s side and helped him in the room, wrapping his arms possessively around him and helping him stay upright as they watched Jacob suddenly drop down onto his front and crawl beneath the bed. 

“Jesus Christ…” Gerard scoffed, rolling his eyes as he watched Jacob’s torso disappear beneath their bed and then suddenly reappear again when he shuffled backwards almost instantly. 

“Help me move this!” Jacob gasped, springing to his feet and gripping a corner of the bed. He started to push with all his might, moving it a few inches across the wood floor before Gerard slowly came to help him, not sure why he was doing so. 

Together the two men slid the bed across the floor until was pressed against the wall, the planks that had been hidden by the bed now on full show. 

Frank was the first to see the drawing that came to light, and as he did he shivered violently, as if a cold blanket had been draped over him. He felt something powerful wash over him, like a shadow or a ghost and he felt the unbearable desire to bolt from the room. 

“G - Gerard…” Frank stumbled backwards and gripped the dresser behind him, looking over at Gerard and Jacob with frightened eyes. 

Jacob turned and sighed, not sure whether to feel relief or terror as he looked at the floor.

Gerard was the last to see it, his eyes catching Frank’s first before he looked down at the floor and stared in shock at the intricate drawing that covered the wood. It was almost as wide as the bed, but circular; dozens of lines criss-crossed over each other in a detailed pattern, interwoven with symbols and scripture in an unknown language.

“What…” Frank was starting to slump down the dresser, his knees buckling. He was felt weak… so incredibly weak and staring at the drawing was making his head swim. “W - What is it…”

“A curse mark.” Jacob and Gerard spoke together at the same time. Gerard scowled and looked over at Jacob, but Jacob was fixated on the mark on the floor. 

“Things are a lot worse than I thought.” Jacob started to fumble in his pocket to find his phone. “You need to take Frank away from here immediately, get at least a few miles away. Find a hotel or something and I’ll meet you there later. I need to make a phone call.” Jacob suddenly turned and strode from the room, dialling a number and pressing his phone to his ear. 

Gerard watched him go with an increasing sense of fear. Suddenly the cottage didn’t feel like his and Frank’s safe haven anymore. He turned to Frank and walked over to him quickly, scooping him up from the floor and holding him bridal style in his arms.

“Come on.” He whispered, not sure what to think or feel or even say anymore. Frank weakly hooked an arm around Gerard’s neck and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the sickening feeling the curse mark was causing. 

Gerard strode to the door and hesitated for a second, taking just one more look at the curse mark that had been under the bed for God only knew how long. His stomach twisted uncomfortably and he turned away, walking past Jacob in the hallway and then straight down the stairs, out the open door and into the snow…

As Gerard gently helped Frank into the Chevelle parked on the street he was too preoccupied to notice the woman watching them from the side of the cottage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys,   
> I'm really sorry this chapter took so long and is so short. I've actually had this written for a little while but I wanted to keep going with it and put up a bigger chapter but I've just been so strapped for time I thought I'd put this up now and stop torturing you all with the cliffhanger.   
> Coming up to Christmas my job is busier than ever so I'm thinking things might be easier/better if I do just post up mini chapters like this, that way hopefully I'm not leaving you all for ages then. If you guys are up for that then I think that'll be the new plan and I'll just gradually chip away at the story whenever I can. I wish I had more time to update but adulting sucks :(   
> Really sorry again guys, and thank you for sticking around despite my crappiness.   
> xo


	11. Old haunts

Frank was asleep when the knock on the hotel door finally came. 

Gerard had been watching him for three hours, just listening to the soft labour of his breathing and waiting for Jacob to finally show up. He had resorted to counting the seconds of each of Frank’s breaths, just to make himself stop thinking about the curse mark and what it might mean.

It was gone midnight when the knock on the door startled him out of his trance. He dropped his phone, which he had been holding since they had arrived at the hotel, never sure whether to call Mikey or not. In the end he hadn’t; he was worrying enough about Frank without dragging his brother into their mess as well.

Gerard crossed the hotel room to the door and hesitated just a moment before slowly opening it. He peeked through the gap first, just to make sure it really was Jacob before standing aside and letting him in. Alongside him was another man, with much darker skin and easily the biggest muscles in the room.

“You finally made it.” Gerard said coolly, carefully smoothing the expression on his face so that Jacob didn’t see how nervous he was. 

“We’ve had a lot to discuss.” Jacob gave as his only explanation, striding straight to the centre of the room and gesturing vaguely at his companion. “This is my friend Dayo, he needed a while to dissect the meaning of the curse mark.”

“You couldn’t do it yourself?” Gerard asked, eyeing Dayo with trepidation. He wasn’t sure how happy he was about another stranger being in his and Frank’s bedroom. 

“Dayo is an expert in curse marks.” Jacob shrugged, crossing over to the bed and looking at Frank with an unreadable expression. He gently lay his hand on his forehead for a moment, as if to feel his temperature, but then moved away again too quickly. 

“He was born in Africa four hundred years ago, curse marks are a part of his heritage.” Jacob moved to the other side of the room and sat down in a lounge chair angled towards the television that was hooked on the wall.

“Right…” Gerard looked at Dayo even more suspiciously. “And what’s his verdict?” 

“Not good.” Jacob sighed as he tilted his head back, pinching the bridge of his nose for a second. In the half-light coming through the window he suddenly looked very old and very tired. 

Dayo, who had been slowly making a circuit of the room, finally came to the window and drew the curtains closed. He then leant against the wall directly opposite the bed Frank was sleeping on, looking at him for a long moment before turning his dark eyes on Gerard.

“I’m afraid you and your…” Dayo hesitated, looking at Frank for another second before returning his eyes to Gerard, “lover… are in extreme danger.” 

Dayo had a deep voice but spoke surprisingly quietly, so that Gerard was forced to strain to hear him. He got the eery feeling that Dayo was trying to be discreet, as if the very walls were trying to listen. 

“Why?” Gerard asked equally as quietly, too anxious to do anything else but listen.

“The curse mark was unlike any other I have seen… it was detailed, very _specifically_ detailed. It was tailored completely for the two of you.” Dayo fell quiet again, folding his arms tightly across his chest. “You’re being conditioned.”

“What?” Gerard looked from Dayo to Jacob and back again. “What does that mean?”

“Well… The only explanation we could think of is that the demons need you two for something.” Jacob was the one to answer, looking at Gerard with exhaustion clear on his features. “The most likely thing being that they need you for the ritual.”

“As a sacrifice.” Dayo clarified. 

Gerard’s eyes widened slowly and for a moment he was speechless. He was grateful then that Frank was fast asleep, not sure how to respond or even how to feel. His first instinct was to laugh and dismiss the whole thing as insanity, but the atmosphere in the room felt far too serious.

“You… You can’t be sure though… can you?” He asked slowly, his heart starting to trip in it’s rhythm. Unbidden, images of Frank being marked with blood and executed came vividly into his mind. “It could be something else?”

“Not likely.” Dayo shook his head, arms still tightly folded. 

“As I said, the runes in the curse mark were specific. They were put there to tap into your… sexual powers.” Dayo spoke the words with a degree of disgust in his voice. “They increased what already comes naturally for you, amplifying everything about your… abilities.”

“What?” Gerard felt even more confused and looked to Jacob to speak more clearly. 

Jacob bit his lip, sinking into his seat under Gerard’s inquisitive look. He was still trying to get his own head around the demons apparent plan, he didn’t really want to share it yet, but they were running out of time.

“Basically, the curse mark was put there to increase both yours and Frank’s sex drive.” He said slowly, rubbing a hand anxiously over his jawbone. “Because you’re an incubus, when you have sex you draw power from your victims… uh, lovers.” 

Jacob blushed and Gerard scowled, the tension in the room thickened.

“The curse mark amplified that tenfold. The more the two of you had sex the more you’d want to have sex, and with every sexual act you committed together you grew stronger and Frank grew weaker.” Jacob paused to let Gerard start to understand what he was saying and then continued. 

“The fact that Frank’s own powers have begun to manifest only increased the power you could drain from him. Ordinarily his healing abilities would _lessen_ your siphoning, but the curse mark was designed to reverse this. For however long it’s been there you’ve been drawing so much energy and strength from him every time you’ve had sex.”

“Hold on.” Gerard held one hand up and pressed another to his forehead, halting Jacob’s speech. Suddenly a lot of things were making sense… the unnatural drive for sex they’d been having, the way Frank had been so faint and even the fact he was sleeping right then, when so much was going on…

“I don’t… I don’t see what they would gain from any of this. They just wanted me to make him weak?” Gerard asked slowly, starting to feel more and more sick. 

“Not exactly.” Jacob spoke gently, frowning a little as he watched the expressions Gerard wasn’t able to hide. “From what we could gather from the curse mark it was all to just amplify what you both already do. If they just wanted you to completely drain him there are runes for that too…” Jacob glanced at Dayo for a moment. 

“We think that they wanted Frank weak just so that he wasn’t able to truly realise his potential powers. He should have been able to heal someone in training by now, and this curse mark explains why he hasn’t. They needed him to feel human still, so he wouldn’t put up a fight. And you… they needed you strong because they know you’ll protect him.”

Jacob paused again and waited until Gerard slowly lowered his hands and met his gaze full on. Gerard’s lips parted slightly and his heart missed a beat. He could only nod dumbly, starting to feel ridiculously choked up. Yes… He would protect Frank… With all of his life he would.

“The demons need a massive ritual to summon… Whatever they summon.” Dayo spoke up again, his arms still folded but his posture started to relax. “Sacrifices vary in power depending on what you sacrifice. But as a couple you two are about as powerful as it gets _if_ the sacrifice is made willingly.”

“We think they plan to take Frank hostage.” Jacob joined in again, starting to rise from his chair. “In his weakened state if they got him alone it would be no trouble. Then they would contact you directly and deliberately lead you to him. Even strengthened as you are you’d be no match for them, and once you found them they would make some sort of deal with you where they spare Frank’s life in return for yours.”

“If that happened the sacrifice would be of the most powerful nature.” Dayo interrupted, his eyes boring into Gerard. “It would encompass all of the most powerful things. Sex,” Dayo held up one finger. “All of your power and strength would have been gleaned from the sex you’ve been having.” Dayo held up a second finger. “Consent. You’d soon discover you can’t beat them alone, if you tried, and you’d agree to their terms for Frank’s life. Love,” Dayo held up a third finger. “Is one of the most powerful and pure motivators. Sacrifice for love is the most powerful of all, and love between such opposites makes it even more potent.” 

“You got all of this from a curse mark?” Gerard croaked, suddenly feeling faint himself. 

“You have to remember I’ve spent thousands of years learning the ways of these demons. Once we knew the different elements of the curse mark it wasn’t a large jump to figure out their plan.” Jacob started to walk across the room towards Gerard, his eyes concerned. 

“Of course, we might not be completely correct. We can’t know exactly what they’re planning, but they’re definitely planning to use you and Frank for a sacrifice in some way or another.” Jacob lay a hand ever so slowly onto Gerard’s shoulder, squeezing lightly when he made no move to get away. 

“So all this time I’ve been killing him.” Gerard whispered, staring straight ahead, lost in his own thoughts. 

“Not exactly.” Jacob squeezed Gerard’s shoulder harder, trying to make him look at him. 

“But I have… It’s always me who gets him into danger. He’ll never be safe.” Gerard was starting to crumple and Jacob quickly focused his energy on supporting him. He soothed him as much as he could with his hand on his shoulder, but his emotional healing was not as effective on a non-human. 

“Well, we’re hoping that we can get him into safety. Both of you, actually.” Jacob carefully turned Gerard round to face him, careful not to anger him in any way. “Your cottage will probably have been watched recently to see how the curse mark was getting on, so you can’t go back there. And you’re no safer here either, but if you come with us to where we train we can all band together and hopefully we’ll all be safer there.”

“Go with you?” Gerard looked at Jacob with wide eyes, trying to concentrate on him and not let his own thoughts swallow him. 

“Yes.” Jacob spoke as softly and clearly as he could. Behind him Dayo was looking anxiously at the clock. “We need to leave now, whilst we can be relatively sure we won’t be followed.”

“But…” Gerard hesitated and gestured vaguely with his hands. He wanted to argue, he was sure there were a million reasons not to go with Jacob but he couldn’t think of any. He couldn’t believe that he was feeling… scared. 

“Dayo carry Frank.” Jacob glanced at the clock and then moved away from Gerard. “We have to go.” He crossed the room and threw Gerard his and Frank’s coats, looking at him with a gaze that allowed no argument. 

Gerard bit his lip so hard he almost drew blood, his heart racing. He didn’t want to trust Jacob, but he didn’t want to stay anywhere Frank might be in danger either. He looked at the coat in his hands and took a deep breath. 

“Alright.” He finally whispered, deciding he could go with Jacob for now and then make a better plan once they were there. “Let me wake him up.”

“Just let him rest.” Jacob sighed, folding his arms as he waited by the door. “He’ll need it.” 

“Fine.” Gerard walked over to Frank and carefully dressed him in his coat whilst he slept. He didn’t have the energy himself to argue with Jacob and so, though it tore him apart to do so, he simply stood aside whilst Dayo lifted Frank as easily as lifting a child, and they all left the hotel room. 

Outside Jacob had a taxi waiting for them. As they all clambered into the back Jacob smiled and joked convincingly about their friend ‘having had too much to drink’ with the driver, asking him about his Christmas plans and helping to ease any suspicion the man might have felt over ferrying three men carrying someone unconscious. 

Gerard could only listen to Jacob in silent amazement. He wasn’t comfortable with him being so good at acting, but he had far more pressing matters to worry about and for the entire taxi journey he could do nothing but look nervously out the windows and pray they weren’t being followed.

Jacob had the driver drop them a short distance from the warehouse and Dayo led the way for Gerard whilst Jacob paid the fare. 

The night seemed eerily quiet as they walked between buildings and snaked their way towards the warehouse that Frank had been trained in. Their footsteps crunched softly through the snow and Gerard shivered despite his heavy winter coat. He tried to resist the urge to keep looking over his shoulder, but couldn’t stop himself once or twice. 

Once they finally reached the warehouse Jacob gave a quick scan of the area before quietly knocking on the door. 

“I think he’s waking up.” Dayo stepped close to Gerard so that he could see Frank’s eyelids fluttering. 

“Password?” A soft voice asked through the door and Jacob whispered something back to them. As the door was pulled open Frank’s eyelids rose too and Gerard smiled in relief to see him awake. 

“Hey.” He breathed, lifting a hand to touch Frank’s cheek but he hesitated when he saw Frank’s eyes widening as if in terror. 

“Frankie?” Gerard took a step back when Frank suddenly began to struggle in Dayo’s arms, gasping and stuttering in clear horror. 

“O - O - Oh my G - God - No! NO!” Frank fought his way out of Dayo’s grip, dropping onto his feet and almost stumbling before he began to back away from Gerard as quickly as he could. 

“Don’t come near me - Don’t touch me!” Frank’s voice was hoarse and though he tried to shout it mostly got stuck in his throat. Jacob looked between Frank and Gerard in confusion and tried to step towards him but Frank saw him and only moved faster. 

“No! NO! Get away from me! Gerard! GERARD HELP ME! GERARD!” Frank was looking around desperately, darting this way and that like a cornered animal, screaming for Gerard the whole time. 

“Frank? Frank stop it, it’s me! It is Gerard.” Gerard tried to corner Frank gently against the building, holding his hands out towards him but too afraid to touch him. “What’s happening?” He barked at Jacob before looking at Frank again. “Frankie it is me!”

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” Frank screamed, ducking underneath Gerard’s arms and making a run for it. “GERARD! GERARD!” 

“FRANK! It IS me!” Gerard tried to chase him but slipped in the snow. As he crashed onto his knee he saw Dayo sidestep into Frank’s way and easily restrain him. 

“NO please! Please GERARD!” Frank was starting to cry, sobbing and screaming as Dayo dragged him towards the warehouse door. 

“Get him inside!” Jacob ordered loudly, hurrying to Gerard’s side and helping him up. He half dragged him through the snow and into the warehouse behind Frank who was still screaming and struggling to get free. 

“What’s going on?” Gerard croaked, barely noticing the other people in the warehouse. He rushed straight to Frank, wincing when it only made him scream more. “Frank, it’s me. You know me!” 

“Leave me alone!” Frank tried to scream but could only gasp, his chest heaving as he lost his energy and slumped in Dayo’s arms. He had his hands pressed to the black man’s forearms, still trying to wrestle his way out though his attempts were pathetic. 

“Frank, it’s ME.” 

“I know it’s you!” Frank snapped, his breathing hard. “Why have you come back? I never did anything to you! Please, leave me alone… Leave me alone… I didn’t do anything… It wasn’t me… It wasn’t me…” Frank bowed his head, whispering to himself as he struggled to draw in breath. His tears dripped straight down onto the cold, concrete floor. 

“What… What is he talking about?” Gerard whimpered, feeling tears in his own eyes. 

Jacob stood beside Gerard but he too was blind sided and he had no idea whether it was safe to approach Frank or not. 

“Frank? Who is this man?” Jacob asked as gently as he could, gesturing at Gerard. Frank looked weakly up at them for a second before dropping his gaze to the floor again. 

“It’s not my fault… I didn’t do it… I didn’t kill him… I didn’t kill his sister either… It wasn’t me, please…” Frank was starting to grow quieter and quieter with every word before finally passing out again and Jacob shook his head in dazed astonishment. 

“Oh God…” Jacob turned at the sound of Gerard’s broken voice and he quirked an eyebrow when he saw the realisation on Gerard’s face. 

“What is it?” He asked softly, searching Gerard’s gaze though he only continued to stare at Frank in devastation. 

“He thinks I’m Eicca.”


	12. Ghosts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, 
> 
> As I'm sure is fairly obvious I've really been struggling to write recently. The mojo is gone and I dunno... things just aren't really rolling. To be honest with you all I've been considering just leaving this story uncompleted and giving up on writing in general, the only thing that has stopped me is how much I always loved to write and really not wanting to give up on the only creative outlet I have left.   
> That being said, I need to say a huge thank you to Momiji-Neyuki who sought me out and messaged me, and made me realise that I can't just abandon this. I don't know if these last few chapters are going to be any good, but if nothing else, I can wrap this thing up. I think the chapter after this one will be the last, and I pray I'll find the courage to finish this without giving you guys such a long wait for it. 
> 
> Thank you so much to all of you for sticking with me so far, I'm sorry it's been so slow.

“I can’t see anything in here that would cause this… There’s nothing on hallucinations or delusions, all the runes I know that could create these effects aren’t in here.” Dayo looked up from the photos he had taken of the curse mark in Frank and Gerard’s cottage, his gaze almost apologetic as he looked at Jacob. 

“It may be something to do with the curse, but I’ve reached the limit of my knowledge. I’m sorry.” 

“It has to be the curse mark.” Gerard insisted for the hundredth time that evening, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. “It’s the only thing it could be.” 

“Perhaps not.” Jacob was gazing intently at Frank, one thumb pressed lightly to his lips. Every now and then he would chew anxiously on his nail, before stopping every time he became aware of it. 

“What else could it be?” Gerard demanded, growing tenser every minute. 

“We all have our own inner demons.” Jacob mumbled quietly, mostly to himself. “Frank has suffered greatly, I can sense that he has gone through more in just one short year than most would in a lifetime and more. It could be any manner of things that could cause this…”

“What like?” Gerard scoffed, pacing restlessly in a circle. “His PTSD?” 

“Maybe.” Jacob shrugged, though he had been certain he had healed that. Mental illnesses took much longer to heal than physical wounds, but he had been slowly doing what he could over the weeks of knowing Frank and he had been certain he had healed it all by now. 

“Well we need to figure this out.” Gerard’s pacing was growing faster, his mind hot with guilt and anxiety. “We can’t leave him like that for much longer - look at him!” 

Jacob was already looking at Frank; he hadn’t taken his eyes off him for the past hour. 

Frank had been slipping in and out of consciousness, growing more and more delirious. He hadn’t said a single intelligible word since collapsing to the floor, just mumbled erratically whenever he stirred for short periods of time. He had become feverish, and for the past half an hour would scream terribly if any male approached him. 

Gisele had fetched some snow to wrap in a cloth, she was dabbing it gently over Frank’s forehead and neck to keep him cool. Sophia held Frank’s head tenderly in her lap, stroking his hair and whispering softly to Gisele. The two women seemed to have a calming effect on the man, though he continued to stir and mumble weakly every few minutes.

Patrick and Samuelle were outside the warehouse, silently keeping watch in case anyone should appear. No one had said it outloud, but it was obvious they were all expecting a demon to appear. 

McKayla was the only one of the group asleep. She was curled up in a ball under several blankets, and slept as peacefully as if she were a real child. 

“Thing are escalating.” Jacob stopped staring at Frank at long last and turned to face Gerard. “Whatever is going on here, I can feel its about to come to a head. Our priority right now is not figuring out the problem, it’s keeping everyone safe.” 

“How can we know he’s safe if we don’t know the problem?” Gerard snarled, gesturing wildly at Frank. “He could be sick, or dying, and we don’t even know. He’s not safe until he’s back to normal!”

“He isn’t dying Gerard.” Jacob spoke as calmly as he could, reaching out to Gerard but he only stepped angrily out of reach. “He is unwell, but if he was dying I assure you I wouldn’t keep it from you. The biggest threat to him are the demons who put that curse mark on your floor. Talking of which…” 

Jacob turned suddenly, just in time to see the door to the warehouse bursting open. A blast of cold air and snow whistled into the building, followed by Patrick, Samuele and a short, lithe woman with flowing blond pigtails. 

“Jacob, I found this one outside.” Sam and Patrick were both holding an arm each of the woman, who was grinning broadly as if she was privy to some huge joke. “She’s one of them.”

“Yes.” Jacob agreed, turning head on to the woman as she was tossed towards him. “I know her.” 

“Ya’akov.” The woman’s smile widened even more, showing her small, white teeth. “It is an honour to finally meet you.” She gave a low, dramatic bow, never taking her eyes off Jacob. 

“You have been watching us for some time.” Jacob spoke to her calmly, but everyone in the room noticed how much straighter he stood, how he suddenly started to look like the leader they all knew him to be. “I wondered when I would finally make your acquaintance.”

“You knew she was watching us?” Patrick demanded, unable to hide his look of betrayal. 

“Of course I knew.” Jacob spoke to the woman. “What kind of leader would I be if I didn’t know when we were being watched?” 

“You never told us -” Patrick started but Sam cut him off with a wave of his hand. All eyes were fixed on Jacob and the woman. 

“You’re the one who has been watching Frank as well.” 

“Am I?” The woman smiled sweetly, cocking her head to the side and playing idly with one of her pigtails. 

“You knew!?” This time it was Gerard’s turn to be outraged and he whirled on Jacob with coal eyes. “You knew about her and you let this happen!?”

“I didn’t know you were being watched until now. But knowing she has been watching me, and considering the state Frank is now in, it doesn’t take much to connect the dots.” Jacob spoke firmly, but still didn’t turn his gaze away from the woman. 

“I’m surprised it took you this long to figure it out.” She purred, giggling to herself and winking naughtily at Gerard. When he lunged for her Jacob grabbed him by the arm to stop him, and this only delighted the girl more. 

“Don’t let her rile you.” Jacob warned, his grip surprisingly strong. “What do you want demon? I assume you are here for a reason.” 

“Naturally.” The woman let go of her pigtail and flicked her head to make the ends swing. “My master requests an audience with you.” She paused and look around the room, her gaze lingering on Frank. “And your pets.”

“Why?” Jacob asked immediately. “He doesn’t have to send you, he could just walk in here himself.”

“Of course.” The woman shrugged, looking at Jacob again. “But he wished to offer you this invitation in good faith. He says to inform you that we have perfected the summoning ritual, and that you have ran out of time.” The girl grinned broadly again, her chest heaving with a silent laugh. 

“We expected you to have done more in the time you’ve had, but since there are so many of us and so few of you…” The woman made a point of looking around the room again. “My master is a gentleman, and he sees no point in slaughtering you if you’ll co-operate.” 

“Co-operate how?” Jacob asked, starting to scowl. He tightened his grip on Gerard, the other man starting to grow restless again. 

“You have something we want.” The woman spoke louder now, clearer. “We’ll take him from you by force if that’s how you want things to be. But, if you deliver him to us peacefully then my master sees no reason why we can’t let you live and witness the new world.” 

“And who is it you want exactly?” Jacob asked, though of course they all knew. 

“No need to play dumb Ya’akov.” The woman tilted her head slowly towards Frank. “You have one hour to bring him to us, and if you don’t…” She trailed off, looking around at them and smiling sweetly. “Well… You’ll find out.” 

The woman turned her back slowly on Jacob, who was now wrestling with Gerard. 

“FUCK YOU! I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU BITCH!” Gerard stretched his arms out, his hands like claws as he struggled and kicked, trying desperately to get out of Jacob’s hold but the man was stronger than Gerard had ever imagined. 

The woman laughed to herself as she strode to the door, leaving without anyone trying to stop her. 

As soon as the door banged shut Gerard spun on Jacob, his black eyes ablaze and his fists raised. 

“You son of a bitch!” Gerard hit out as fast as he could, sending punch after punch raining down on Jacob but every blow was parried with ease. 

“Gerard stop!” Jacob easily swatted Gerard’s hands away, not holding back on his own strength anymore. “I am not your enemy!”

“You’re not my fucking friend!” Gerard snarled, sweeping an arm down to try and catch Jacob in the ribs, then flying a punch up towards his face when that didn’t work. “You just let a demon waltz straight in here and don’t even do anything about it!”

“There was nothing to be done.” Jacob danced backwards, blocking every hit Gerard made towards him, never striking back until the incubus was exhausted and his moves began to slow. 

“We have one hour to plan what we’re going to do, fighting isn’t going to help.” Jacob at last grabbed Gerard’s wrists and pinned them together. Gerard didn’t even have the energy to pull back. “We are running out of time.”

“You fucking bastard.” Gerard snarled, his eyes full of black fire. “They’ve done this to Frank and you just let it happen.”

“Gerard please, I care about Frank as much as you do.” Jacob insisted, ducking beneath another punch to the face. “I’m not going to let them hurt him!”

“Damn straight.” Gerard scoffed, whirling away from Jacob when he saw it was useless trying to hurt him. “I’m taking him away from here - as far away from you freaks as I can.” 

Gerard strode towards Frank, but barely got within six feet of him before he was forced to stop when Frank screamed out as if he was being tortured. The sound of his agonizing screams was too much for even Gerard to ignore and he simply stood stock still, clenching his teeth hard.

“There’s no use trying to take him away.” Jacob shouted over the noise of Frank’s screams. “Even if he let you touch him, the second you left this place, God knows how many demons would be on you. You’d both be dead within seconds.”

Gerard gnashed his teeth together, his fists clenched tight at his side. He had to wait a second before he could trust himself to speak, his whole body vibrating with anger. 

“Then what is it you plan to do?” He finally managed to grit out, taking a slow step backwards so that Frank would stop screaming. He continued to stare at his lover, who was now once more unconscious. 

“We need to figure that out.” Jacob spoke gently now that the screaming had stopped. “I think the obvious choice is that we do as they ask -”

“What!?” Gerard span round to face Jacob, the blood lust he was trying to fight increasing tenfold. 

“ _For now_.” Jacob emphasised clearly, holding his hands up at Gerard. “There’s no way we can escape here, and no point in us just sitting here waiting to be killed. If we do as they ask and meet them outside, then maybe we’ll be able to fight our way out this.”

“Bullshit.” It was Patrick who spoke this time and when everyone turned to face him they could see his hands were badly shaking as he struggled to light a cigarette. “We’re nowhere near ready for a fight… There’s only nine of us, and that’s counting Frank. There’ll be hundreds of them, and they’ll have chosen the setting.” 

Patrick struggled with his lighter again and again before Sam had to step in and catch the flame for him. 

“The only chance we have is to run.” The cigarette finally lit and Patrick took a long, desperate drag. 

“We’ll be killed if we run.” Jacob sighed.

“We’ll be killed if we fight.” Patrick argued, sucking on his cigarette like a lollipop. 

“We have to do something.” Gerard growled, throwing his hands up in frustration. 

“Well, I for one am not going to just give up and die.” Sam put in, folding his arms tensely across his chest. “We need to go in there and fight in pairs, like we always trained. Attack and heal, remember.”

“That plan won’t work if we’re hugely outnumbered. We can’t keep healing each other if we’re being constantly wounded.” Jacob was starting to look stressed, and that made everyone else feel worse. “Until we know how many demons there are we can’t possibly think up a strategy.”

“Plus, Gerard can’t heal.” Sofia quietly pointed out. 

“I don’t need to be able to heal.” Gerard snarled, flexing his fists slowly. “I’ll kill every demon out there, I don’t care how many there are.” 

“This is no time for bravado.” Jacob scoffed, shaking his head. “We’re not prepared for this.” 

“We can’t just give up.” Sam insisted, taking a step forward. 

“Maybe running away _is_ the best plan.” 

“We’ll be slaughtered.” Jacob shook his head, starting to feel dizzy. He hadn’t expected to go up against the demons for at least another year, and even then they had nowhere near enough time to prepare. But things seemed to have suddenly crept up on them out of nowhere. 

“They’re stronger than us, there’s more of them than us, they have a plan and we don’t…” Patrick was now lighting a second cigarette, his whole body quivering. 

“There’s got to be something.” Gerard snapped, starting to grow impatient. “There just _has_ to be.” 

“I don’t know…” Jacob pressed his fingers to his temples, screwing his eyes shut for a moment. “I just… I don’t know…”

“We need someone who can go after Baal.” Sam suggested. “If someone can survive long enough to take him out, then we’ll swing everything into our favour.”

“Who could possibly get to Baal?” Patrick scoffed. 

Frank began to groan and mewl, tossing his head from side to side as the others argued around him. The women kept silent, letting the men bicker about it, although Gisele was looking intently at Dayo, who was in turn starting silently at Gerard. 

“No one is stronger than a demon.”

“We need an immortal - one that really can’t be killed.”

“No such thing exists, everything can be killed, even those who live forever.”

“What about a zombie?”

“They can be killed too.”

“And I suppose you have a zombie tucked up your ass somewhere do you?” 

“That isn’t helping Patrick.”

“Well neither is anything anybody else says.”

“It’s more of an idea than you’ve had.” 

“Fuck you!”

“Fuck _you!_ ”

Patrick and Sam suddenly turned on each other, both tensing and preparing to strike when Dayo silenced them all with his booming voice. 

“We’ll use a ghost.” 

Suddenly all eyes turned onto the African man, most looked at him as if he was crazy, but Jacob’s face suddenly lit up with realisation. 

“Of course!” He gasped, lowering his hands from his temples slowly. “It all makes sense.” 

“What are you talking about?” Gerard looked between Dayo and Jacob like they were idiots. “Do you know any ghosts?”

“There’s one with us right now.” Dayo was starting to smile, walking towards Gerard with ominous, slow steps. “We just didn’t realise it.” 

Gerard’s eyebrows rose and his irises began to leak back to white as he stared at Dayo with some trepidation. “Why are you looking at me like that?” 

“Someone get me some chalk.” Dayo was really grinning now, closing in on Gerard like a cat stalking it’s prey. “He is hiding well, that’s why I didn’t notice him before. He has taken residence in each of our bodies, stretched between us men like threads of a cobweb. That’s why only the women can approach Frank.”

“What are you talking about.” Gerard was starting to feel so nervous he felt sick. Dayo’s words were sending chills down his spine though he wasn’t sure why. “What’s going on.” 

“I’m going to draw his spirit out of us, if I can connect it back into one form then I can exorcise him entirely.” Dayo was talking mostly to himself now, though it seemed everyone else had cottoned onto what was happening and Sam went running through the warehouse to find chalk. 

“Exorcise who?” Gerard could barely get his words out and automatically his eyes went to Frank. 

“All of us… But you first.” Dayo suddenly clamped a hand down onto Gerard’s shoulder, gripping tight. “What was the name of the spirit again? Eicca, was it?” 

“No…” Frank moaned softly at the name and began to toss and turn again. Sofia gripped his shoulders gently, stopping him from rolling out of her lap. 

Gerard was starting to feel faint. 

“Eicca…” He whispered, his throat hoarse. “How is that possible?”

“I should have sensed it from the moment I met you.” Jacob shook his head, ashamed of himself. “This spirit has been haunting you both for some time. Luckily for us, if we can exorcise him, we can use him in our fight.”

“This is impossible.” Gerard wasn’t sure whether to pass out or fight Dayo off him. In the end he allowed himself to be gently laid out on the floor. 

Dayo drew an intricately patterned circle around Gerard, muttering under his breath the whole time. Gerard couldn’t tell what language Dayo was using, and though Jacob stood across from him trying to explain what was happening Gerard couldn’t take it in. Instead he stayed silent and still, half convinced it was all a terrible nightmare and that any minute he would wake up.

Gerard didn’t wake up the whole time Dayo was muttering incantations around him. He didn’t wake up when he started to shout and chant at the top of his lungs. He didn’t wake up when a soft, white light began to drift out from him, like sunlight reflecting on his body and bouncing back to the atmosphere. He didn’t wake up when one by one, every man in the room came into the circle and had the same white light drawn from them. He didn’t wake up when Dayo drew the light from himself, wincing as if in pain. He didn’t wake up when the light culminated in the centre of the now empty circle, growing and contracting until it slowly began to take shape. He didn’t wake up when a man appeared in the circle. 

Gerard wished it was a nightmare, he wished he would wake up when slowly, slowly… Eicca’s face came into focus. And then when their eyes met… Gerard fainted.


	13. Ghosts in the snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my God its finished, yay!
> 
> Thank you so much guys for sticking with me through all the shit, I hope I can at least make it up to you all a little bit by not making you wait for this last chapter. All of your amazingly kind words helped spur me on to get this out as fast as I could. I'm back at work tomorrow so I really wanted to do it before then, and I'm just stunned I managed it.
> 
> I hope that this final installment is good enough to make up for all those long waits (though it is SUPAH gay). I think it goes without saying that I don't plan to write any more chaptered fics, at least not for a long while. I hope I can keep my toe in the pond so to speak, with a few one shots here and there when the mood strikes. 
> 
> Until then thank you all again, you've been more incredible than I deserve.
> 
> Love xo

Eicca… Beautiful Eicca… It had been so long, Gerard hadn’t realised how much he had forgotten his face until he saw it then.

When Gerard regained consciousness after just a few minutes, Eicca was sullenly staring at him with a miserable pout on his pretty lips. He had his head tilted down so he had to look up through his dark lashes, soft black curls framing his face. He looked younger and more impish than Gerard had remembered, and it brought back memories of their mischievous time together, and Eiccas fiery Italian passion.

For a short moment Gerard felt light headed and delirious. He hoped he was hallucinating… Maybe whatever was happening to Frank was now happening to him and Eicca wasn’t really there at all. It would certainly be easier if that was the case. 

Of course, Gerard was never so lucky. 

“He’s awake.” It was Jacob who noticed first and he hurried to Gerard’s side to help him sit up. He offered him a cup of hot wine which Gerard took automatically. He couldn’t stop staring at Eicca and Jacob had to gently tilt the cup to his lips to remind him to actually drink some. 

“Lui vergogna non è morto.” Eicca muttered poisonously under his breath. 

“Silenzio!” Jacob whirled an arm round to point a finger accusingly at Eicca. “I will not tell you again, if you are going to speak then you do it in English or not at all.” 

Eicca’s scowl intensified, his crossed arms and legs folding tighter still as he hunched in on himself. 

“Ya, mein fuhrer.” He whispered sarcastically, earning a swat round the head from Dayo who stood over him. 

“Drink more, it will help.” Jacob turned his attention back to Gerard who still looked shell shocked. He carefully poured more hot wine down his throat until some colour returned to his cheeks and he finally blinked his staring eyes. 

“Are you okay?”

Gerard swallowed thickly and searched deep within himself to find the strength to finally turn his head and look at Jacob. It was as disconcerting to be treated kindly by the olive skinned man as it was to be seeing Eicca again, and the two together made Gerard feel strange and wobbly in a way he hadn’t since he had been a human boy. 

“How’s Frank?” Gerard’s tongue felt thick in his mouth and he couldn’t find an answer to Jacob’s question so tried one of his own. 

“He’s much better.” Jacob offered Gerard a warm smile. “He’s not awake yet but he’s stopped screaming. I’m sure he’ll come round soon.” 

Gerard searched the room for a second before remembering where Frank was and he felt a small arrow of relief pierce his heart. Frank was lying calmly at last, still being cared for by Giselle and Sophia who were warming more wine for when he woke up. 

“Thank God.” Gerard whispered, smiling despite himself. 

“Yes, thank God.” Eicca drawled sarcastically, his Italian accent rich as ever. In actuality he could speak just fine without it, but if he wasn’t allowed to speak in his mother tongue he could at least adopt its charming lilt as his only form of defiance. 

Gerard snapped his gaze back to Eicca immediately, a whirl of emotions coming over him so that he couldn’t distinguish a single one. 

“What did you do to him?” Gerard demanded, his voice quiet but edged with malice. He was starting to think clearer, and he could finally look at Eicca without panicking. 

“ _Me?_ ” Eicca widened his grey eyes and pressed a hand dramatically over his heart. “ _I_ didn’t do anything. _I_ was protecting him.” 

“Bullshit!” Gerard snarled, almost jumping to his feet but he found his limbs were still too leaden to move.

“It’s true.” Jacob butted in, though he looked about as happy as Gerard did. “Eicca has been guarding Frank against the more sinister runes in the curse mark.”   
“Did he tell you that?” Gerard scoffed, his eyes boring into Eicca’s. “Don’t believe a word he says.” 

“Right, because it was me who was always the liar in our relationship, wasn’t it il mio amore?” Eicca retorted, drawing out the italian like a lover. 

“We had no relationship, _cosa dolce_ , you were just for sex.” Gerard snapped cruelly, making Eicca practically roar and lunge for him.

Gerard jumped in shock when Eicca flew towards him and then crashed to a halt as if colliding with an invisible wall. Gerard realised for the first time that Eicca was still trapped within the chalk circle Dayo had drawn, unable to overstep its pink lines. 

“Oh you always knew how to hurt me amante.” Eicca laughed as he took a step back into the circle, but the sound came out torn and pained. “Some things never change.” 

“Indeed…” Gerard’s heart was racing and he felt almost guilty as he looked at Eicca, grey and pearlescent but still so alive despite that. It seemed unfair but so fitting that Gerard could create such tortured souls. 

“I don’t mean to interrupt such a sweet reunion.” Gerard had almost forgotten about Sam and Patrick until Sam spoke up at last. “But we’re supposed to be meeting the demons in half an hour and we still haven’t come up with a plan.” 

“I assume the ghost is important.” Gerard nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Mckayla’s voice, having forgotten all about her. 

The young girl had woken up just a few minutes before Gerard had, and had been quietly listening to all that was going on. Now she made herself known, walking behind Gerard and sitting down next to him with a cheeky smile. 

“He _is_ important.” Jacob agreed, crossing his legs in front of himself and resting his chin on his hand as he looked at Eicca. “He’s going to kill Baal.” 

Eicca met Jacob’s gaze but remained silent, his expression giving nothing away. The room suddenly felt colder. 

“He can do that?” Mckayla asked in hushed tones, making Jacob smile. 

“He’s the only one who can.” He replied, touching Mckayla’s hand with his own. “And once Baal is dead the demons will lose the only thing keeping them together. Demons need strong leaders, without them they end up losing focus and scattering.” 

“But how do we get close to Baal in the first place?” Sam asked, coming closer to where Jacob was sitting. “We don’t even know what he looks like.” 

“We’ll meet them with Frank, like they asked. Whilst we pretend to co-operate it will give us enough time to find Baal out. I’m sure it won’t be difficult to distinguish who he is.” 

“No, no, no, no, NO.” Gerard, who had been feeling speechless up until this point, finally found his voice. “We’re not taking Frank to them.” 

“Gerard, we’re not really going to hand him over.” Jacob said soothingly but Gerard was not convinced. 

“I don’t even want him in the same room as them. He isn’t even conscious - he needs to stay here.” Gerard didn’t know whether he was even going to fight or not, but he was adamant that Frank wasn’t going anywhere near any demons. 

“We don’t have a choice Gerard-”

“You do have a choice!” Gerard snapped, his eyes starting to swirl black again. “We’re not taking him there!”

“If we don’t then Eicca won’t help us.” Jacob retorted, growing impatient. “Frank is the only reason we can use him.” 

“What?” Gerard’s eyes turned white again as he frowned in confusion. He opened his mouth to argue and then hesitated. “I don’t understand.” He finally managed to whisper, too afraid to turn and look at Eicca when he heard him laugh quietly. 

“Eicca is bound to protect Frank, that’s why he’s here.” Jacob explained softly, but Gerard only grew more confused. 

“What do you mean?” He asked, dread filling him. “Why would he protect him?” 

“A spirit only gets trapped in this realm if it has a debt to pay.” It was Dayo who spoke then, apparently the only voice of authority when it came to ghosts and voodoo. “Eicca can only pay his debt by protecting Frank. Once he has fulfilled that debt he will be free to move onto the next world, whatever that might be.” 

“But _why?_ ” Gerard breathed, his voice hoarse with horror. “Why Frank?” 

“Because you love him.” Eicca answered the question with a sneer and when Gerard dared to look at him his heart lurched to see the pain in Eicca’s eyes. 

“The moment my sister took him hostage and you vowed to find him I became tethered to him. The more my sister drove him out of his mind the stronger my bond with him became, and now I can not leave his side.” Eicca spoke softly, but there was an undertone of anger in his voice. 

“So you’re like a guardian angel!” Mckayla announced excitedly, sickening Gerard and Eicca both.

“Because I took my own life, I must save another before my debt is paid. I waited for the right person to be made clear to me, I never imagined it would bring me back to you.” Eicca shook his head at Gerard, scowling at him. “Ironic, isn’t it? That I should have to save the only man you ever loved.” 

“If it hadn’t been for Eicca, Frank would have been driven irreparably insane by now by the curse mark. The only problem was Frank became aware of Eicca’s presence, so to stop Dayo from seeing it too Eicca was forced to split himself between all of our bodies to hide. That’s why Frank couldn’t bear to be approached by us. But now we have Eicca contained Frank should be at ease.”

“It’s harder than you think to remain unnoticed. It was never my intention to distress Frank.” Eicca sounded almost wounded when he spoke and Gerard stared at him with his jaw hanging open. 

“He’ll be fine now.” Jacob assured both Gerard and Eicca. “As long as you help us defeat Baal then there’s no reason he should be made to suffer again.” 

“Why should you care if he suffers?” Gerard asked hoarsely, starting to fear the worst. 

“I am not my sister.” Eicca shrugged. “My hatred for you doesn’t extend to your lover. Frank had nothing to do with us, he’s just another one of your victims.”

“Nice.” Gerard snorted in disgust, but it was all he could think of to say. His chest hurt terribly, as if someone had torn his heart out. 

“So you’ll help us.” Jacob nodded at Eicca, smiling. “You’ll kill Baal.” 

Eicca stared at Gerard for a long moment more before slowly turning his head to Jacob. He considered for what felt like an eternity, his grey eyes searching Jacob’s before he finally gave a slow, single nod. 

“If I can… I will.” 

 

xXx

 

Although they hadn’t been told where to meet the demons, everyone seemed to know the route. 

They traipsed together through the deep snow, shivering from fear, though they would all insist it was just the cold. Frank had woken just in time to be able to down his hot wine and then he had been pulled to his feet and marched along with the rest of them.

Jacob and Gerard had tried to explain to Frank all that was happening, but though he nodded at all they said and looked at Eicca long enough, it was impossible to tell whether he had really taken anything in at all. Try as they might, they couldn’t get him to utter a single word.

Gerard gripped Frank’s hand tightly through their gloves, pulling him through the snow like a child. Frank walked along like he was sleepwalking, eyes fixed ahead and expression vacant. 

Eicca walked just behind Frank, his feet never quite touching the ground. He too hadn’t spoken since Frank had woken up, but Gerard was glad for it. He still wasn’t sure on the plan… other than that Eicca was going to focus on Baal and it was up to the rest of them to take down as many demons as possible. 

Gerard knew that the only way to kill creatures like demons was to behead them. The others had a variety of weapons to use for such a thing, but Gerard knew that he could rely on brute strength alone. It was up to him to protect Frank during the fight, and that was all he needed to let the monster in him loose. 

As they came close to the meeting point they all became aware of it. Something in the atmosphere changed, so that the snow seemed to stop falling and hang motionless in the air. The world seemed colder, the air crisp and dry, and though the sky above them remained black everything seemed brighter, as if floodlights had been lit all around them.

Instinctively everyone pressed closer together, walking forward as one unit with Frank tight in the centre. They knew the demons were close, and as silence descended Gerard became aware of their presence a moment before he saw them.

All around them figures emerged as if they had walked through a curtain of mist, though they were all as still as the suspended snowflakes. The more the healers walked, the more the demons appeared, until they were surrounded by an army. 

Jacob was the first to stop, holding out one arm so that the whole group came to a halt. Seven healers, one incubus, one ghost, and Frank… Ten against ten thousand. Gerard felt sick.

“Welcome.” The voice boomed out from all directions, softly accented though Gerard couldn’t tell what accent it was. “So good to see you at last, Ya’akov.” 

The owner of the voice finally became visible, a tall, skinny man stood on a podium looking over a large slate slab. 

“Baal.” Jacob whispered softly, sending shivers down all their spines. 

“I trust you have brought what we asked for.” Baal’s face was hidden in the shadow of a hood pulled over his bald head, only his grinning mouth could be seen, full of small, pointed teeth. The hands he had outstretched to them were pale, with long, gnarled fingers. He looked like a withered, white tree, all twisted roots and spindly branches. 

“We do.” Jacob’s voice sounded flat and pathetic compared to Baal’s resonating call. 

Gerard tightened his grip on Frank’s hand, panic suddenly flooding him. For a fleeting second he was certain he wouldn’t be able to keep up the facade, there was no way he could let Frank anywhere near those monsters. 

Jacob glanced over his shoulder at Gerard, raising his eyebrows at him meaningfully and making a tiny gesture with his head. Gerard knew he had to send Frank forward, but how could he? 

“I’m waiting.” Baal’s voice cut through the frozen air like a knife and Gerard felt himself suffocating. It was only when Eicca touched his hand that he was able to let go of Franks. 

Gerard jolted away from Eicca, his ghostly touch like an icy flame on his skin. Immediately Frank began to walk away from him, strolling forward as if in a trance. Gerard almost lunged after him, but somehow he remained frozen to the spot. 

“Come forward child.” Baal spoke to Frank personally, gesturing with his hands for him to keep walking towards him. “Welcome.” 

No one was really certain whether Frank was with them or not. He walked towards the sacrificial slab like a zombie, and lay down upon it without the need for instruction. 

Gerard could feel his heart climbing into his mouth, he could practically feel it beating in his throat. He looked desperately around him, seeking an answer, an order, anything… But everyone just continued to stare ahead of themselves, no one sure when to make the first move. 

In front of him Gerard saw Jacob’s fingers twitch and his jaw clench repeatedly. He was staring at Frank, watching as the young man began to slowly lower himself down onto the slab. 

The air grew thick, suffocating. Frank lay on his back, stretching out across the dark slate. As soon as he became still, Baal spoke. 

“Kill him.” 

Gerard gasped and choked as Eicca suddenly breezed through him, sending ice into every cell of his body and rendering him motionless. He saw with wide eyes how Eicca blurred across the open space, like silk caught on a breeze, nothing more than a grey flash in the snow. 

All around them the demons surged forward, thousands of faces, all of them different, all of them terrifying. Some had weapons, and some simply brandished their hands like claws. 

Jacob split away instantly, charging to the left, as Sam took the right. The other healers split evenly, leaving Gerard standing alone in the snow. 

Time stood still for Gerard as he slowly thawed from the inside out. Noise filtered back first, the sounds of shouting and screaming growing louder and louder; and then feeling tingled up from his toes, into his legs and then his fingers and his hands. When at last his mind caught up, the only thing left to think was Frank.

“Frank.” Gerard choked his name as he began to push forward, struggling to make his limbs work at first but then he was running; sprinting; powering through the snow in the air towards his lover. 

Gerard paid no attention to the demons around him. He couldn’t see anyone he had come with, they could all be dead already for all he knew. The only thing he cared about was Frank, who seemed to be the only thing the demons cared about too. 

The only thing protecting Frank then was Eicca. Gerard couldn’t understand why, the plan was that he attack Baal but he was grateful anyway. Frank was constantly disappearing from view as demons surrounded him, but every single one of them would fall to the ground before they could touch him, the snow turning crimson as each of them was killed by Eicca’s ghostly hands.

Gerard felt as though he ran forever before finally reaching Frank, making it to his side with Eicca’s help. As soon as he reached him Eicca caught his gaze for a split second and then disappeared, heading towards Baal. 

Gerard had no time to watch him; demons were still swarming around him and Frank and he had no choice but to start fighting. 

Gerard’s head still wasn’t completely clear, but he had no time to worry or think at all. He moved with inhuman speed, letting down every barrier he had for keeping the monster in him controlled.

Inky blackness filled the whites of his eyes, spreading through his irises until blending in with his pupils so there was nothing but a black stare left. Shadows seemed to creep across his face, highlighting the bone structure beneath so it was hard to see where the skull ended and the flesh began.

Gerard bared his teeth and let out a roar that echoed across the snowy field. It sounded even over the shouts of everyone else, and anyone who couldn’t see him would have thought it was something more than a simple incubus fighting alone. 

If the demons around him were afraid, they did not show it. They lunged towards him and Frank with no hesitation, and all Gerard could do was grab at whoever was nearest to him and tear their heads from their shoulders with nothing but his bare hands.

Blood soaked through Gerard’s gloves, hot and sticky on his skin. It empowered him and he turned this way and that, shouting and screaming as he grabbed at hair, ears, chins and necks, ripping and tearing as he went. 

All around them demons fell and heads rolled. The snow was melting under all the hot blood and a thin mist of steam surrounded their feet and Frank’s body. 

Every now and then Gerard caught the flash of a weapon; a few even managed to make contact with him. He didn’t know how long it took but soon he was coated in cuts and bruises all over. Some were mere scratches, but some cut deep. He could barely feel them though, so intent on keeping the hands around him off Frank.

It felt like hours had passed, Gerard was certain that Eicca had to be close to killing Baal by then. He tried to catch a glimpse of the demon leader as he span around, but only saw more demons flying towards him. 

“Gerard!”

Eicca’s voice took him by surprise and he lurched sideways, spotting the ghost standing over Frank. His teeth were bared and he was holding a dismembered head in one hand. 

“If you can’t protect him then I can’t reach Baal!” He snarled, killing another demon in a blur of mist and movement. Gerard’s head swam just watching him.

“I am protecting him…” Gerard was surprised to hear how breathless he had become. He struggled to dodge the flurry of attacks raining down on him, Eicca distracting him. 

“I can’t get close to Baal when I keep getting dragged back here. Whenever Frank comes into danger I’m pulled to him.” 

Eicca was speaking and killing at the same time, dancing effortlessly through the crowd of demons, tearing them all limb from limb. 

Gerard struggled to match his pace, slipping on the blood and half melted snow. He tried to pant out that he was fine, but he couldn’t even speak. More and more hits were landing on him, and he was beginning to feel exhausted. 

Eicca raced like a hurricane through the throng of demons, sending heads flying in all directions. He had been such a loving man, so sweet and so naive, it was hard to believe he had become such a killing machine. But then, Gerard supposed, that was what dying could do to you.

Eicca killed and killed until a gap finally appeared in the demons. Gerard could see more bodies now, and he caught a glimpse of Jacob and Giselle, fighting side by side. Each of them were covered in blood, though whose blood it was impossible to tell.

“Protect him!” Eicca suddenly appeared in Gerard’s line of view, teeth bared and eyes blazing. Gerard could only nod dumbly before Eicca was gone again.

Gerard took the second of respite to hurry over to Frank. With all the fighting he hadn’t realised how far he had strayed from him, but he was soon at his side again, standing defensively over him and waiting for the next onslaught. 

Frank watched everything unfolding around him with dull, unblinking eyes. Something in him knew what was happening, but something larger than him had taken control of his body and mind, and he could only lay paralysed as Gerard was forced to fight for him.

Above them, on the podium, Baal watched the slaughter unfolding with interest. He couldn’t believe it hadn’t ended already. Jacob and his merry men were doing better than he ever could have imagined, and it was only his intrigue that stopped him from killing Frank himself and starting the ritual without them.

It was far too easy to simply plough on ahead without them. Besides, he was certain Jacob and his men would all be killed soon enough. It was only a matter of time.

On the ground Gerard was slowing. He was once again neck deep in demons, struggling to keep them all far enough away from Frank for Eicca to keep going. His strength was waning quickly though, and he was starting to feel more and more blades sinking into his skin.

Eicca too was slowing. He could sense that Frank was in imminent danger. Eicca felt like he was on a leash, and every time a demon got too close to Frank the leash would pull taunt. It was only when Gerard threw the demons away that Eicca was able to struggle forward, but he knew that if this continued his leash would yank him back to Frank once again.

Eicca gritted his teeth and struggled forward, praying that Gerard could hold the fight just a little longer. He was now mere feet away from Baal who was so engrossed in the battle he hadn’t even noticed a ghost was present at all. Eicca crept up behind him, arms stretched as far as they would go, ready to grab him.

Gerard was starting to sweat as he spun in circles, his muscles cramping and blood trickling into his eyes. He was keeping the demons off Frank but only barely, and he knew he couldn’t hold on much longer. He searched desperately through the gaps in the crowd for a sign of any of the healers, anyone who might help him.

He managed to kill another seven demons before his balance swayed and he stumbled to the side. By now the onslaught had thinned once again, but that only made it easier for a female demon to step forward, a long spear in her hands. 

Gerard had just long enough to recognise the demon as the woman who had come to them with Baal’s message. Her pigtails were matted with blood but it was unmistakably her. She didn’t even so much as glance at Gerard a she ran towards Frank, spear held aloft. 

Gerard knew that he couldn’t stop her. He also knew that he couldn’t continue fighting long enough for Eicca to come back to them and then go for Baal again.

Gerard glanced up towards the podium and saw Eicca’s ghost, hands outstretched, inches away from Baal’s throat. 

Gerard knew what he had to do.

Frank stared numbly to the sky, watching the glittering snowflakes hang above him. For a moment a spear pierced his vision, and then Gerard blocked it from view, skidding in on his knees with his arms outstretched like the messiah.

Eicca felt the tugging of his leash lessen and he was able to finally close the last few inches between him and Baal. He lunged forward, wrapping his hands around his throat and gripping tight. 

Baal gasped and then choked, stumbling backwards in horror. Instinctively his long, pale fingers came up to tackle with whatever had grabbed him, but they sank right through Eicca’s hands to scratch at his own throat. 

Eicca squeezed and squeezed, listening to the sweet music of Baal’s choking. He gripped until his hands began to crush his throat entirely, and he squeezed harder still until Baal’s neck exploded in a spray of blood and wrinkled flesh.

As the body fell Eicca kept hold of the head, throwing it with all his force away from the body just for good measure. The podium and the snow around him were sprayed with blood, but Eicca himself was clean.

“That was easy.” He smirked to himself, skipping to the top of the podium to see what had happened.

Just as they had predicted, the death of Baal had resonated through every demon and one by one they scattered through the snow. Those who had the power simply disappeared, and those who did not ran for their lives. With their disappearance the suspended snow began to fall again and the silent atmosphere filled with the sweet sound of air.

The only people left standing were the healers, drenched in blood and exhausted. Each of them were wounded, but they were all in the process of healing each other. 

Eicca looked around uncertainly. He had paid his debt, how long would it be until he could finally move on? 

And then Eicca realised that he could still hear choking and weak, desperate gasps for air. 

Eicca span in horror, but of course Baal’s body still lay headless at his feet. For a moment he was confused, and then understanding dawned on him.

Eicca vaulted over the top of the podium and landed next to the sacrificial slab. 

Baal’s control over Frank had snapped with his neck, and Frank had slowly lifted himself onto his elbows. He remained fixed in that position, staring with wide eyes at Gerard who was kneeling above him, the blood from the tip of the spear slowly dripping onto Frank’s cheeks like crimson tears.

The choking was coming from Gerard, his mouth hanging open. 

The spear had pierced him through the chest and made a neat path down past his spine to exit his lower back. It had been aiming for Frank, but Gerard had caught it in the only way he knew how.

Gerard’s hands were wrapped around the end of the spear that stuck out from his chest. He wasn’t trying to pull it out, he could only grip it with bloodied hands, almost using it to stay upright. 

Gerard was staring directly ahead, his eyelids flickering and his chest heaving as he choked and gasped for air. Blood had bubbled out of his mouth with the initial contact and had left a mess down his chin and throat. His eyes had gone back to their normal hazel colour, filled with clear tears.

“Gerard…” Frank’s voice came out strangled and quiet, his wide eyes brimming with tears of his own. For a second longer he couldn’t move, could barely breathe… but then he let out a scream that tore his lungs and echoed round the field.

If the others hadn’t realised what was going on by then, they certainly did now. Within seconds they had rushed to Frank, though they all stopped dead a few feet away from him.

“H - Help him…” Frank gasped, struggling to roll beneath Gerard and clamber to his feet. “P - Please, someone, h - help him.” Frank felt like his stomach was about to tie itself into a knot and his lungs fall on top of it. He was on the brink of hyperventilating, unable to take his eyes away from the dripping spear sticking out of Gerard’s back.

“I can’t.” It was Jacob who answered for all of them, his face a mask of pain as he looked at Gerard. “It’s too late, Frank he’s nearly gone.” 

Gerard’s mouth was quivering as he struggled to catch a breath that wouldn’t come. His hands slipped on the wood of the spear and his grip began to loosen. 

“No! NO! You said, you said as long as they’re not dead! Jacob please, please he’s not dead, please Jacob help me.” Frank was gripping at his hair, stepping all around Gerard, trying to work out what to do. Jacob only watched. 

“Frank…” Jacob’s voice sounded cracked as he spoke, shaking his head. “If we remove that spear, he’ll die before we can heal him. I’m sorry.”

“NO!” Frank whirled on Jacob, tears flooding down his cheeks. “He’ll die if we don’t do anything, Jacob _please_.” Frank waited long enough for Jacob to shake his head again. 

“Fine.” Frank span back to Gerard, hesitating for a split second before grabbing the end of the spear with both hands. 

Eicca suddenly appeared behind Gerard. He met Frank’s gaze, nodded once and then stamped down as hard as he could on the other end of the spear. The metal tip snapped away with the sound of splintering wood, and at the same time Frank yanked the other end to drag the whole thing back out of Gerard’s chest. 

Immediately a waterfall of blood cascaded from between Gerard’s lips and down his chin. He began to fall backwards and was stopped by Eicca’s hands, resting behind his shoulders to keep him leaning back on his knees.

“Frank give it up, he’s dead.” It was Sam who spoke now, wincing in pain just to see what was happening. 

Frank ignored him.

“Frank…” Giselle whispered gently, but Jacob held his hand up to her. 

“Let him try.”

Jacob wasn’t sure why he said it. He could clearly see the light had gone out of Gerard’s eyes. The man was dead, his staring eyes getting snow in them, but still Jacob couldn’t bring himself to tell Frank to stop. Frank had never been able to heal, but he couldn’t harm his lover any more. 

Frank could also see that Gerard was dead. He knew he was a fool for even trying, but he couldn’t not. How could he just walk away? He could never walk away. 

“Don’t give up on me.” Frank didn’t know who he was saying it to. Gerard? Eicca? Himself? 

“You can do this.” Eicca’s soft voice helped calm Frank enough to press his hands to Gerard’s chest, over the hole the spear had left. 

Frank focused all his energy on thinking about healing Gerard. He pictured his heart starting to beat and the flesh starting to fuse back together. He went through everything he had ever learned in all of his lessons, trying hard to believe in himself; to believe in Gerard.

Jacob watched with baited breath as he saw the concentration on Frank’s face. The young man’s hands were shaking, and the way he clenched his jaw made the scars on his neck stand out. He had come through so much, Jacob knew that if he failed he would never survive the enduring pain.

Minutes dragged by and nothing happened, and soon Jacob couldn’t bear to watch any longer. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, just waiting for the moment Frank would admit defeat. 

Frank stared intently into Gerard’s grey eyes, willing himself to keep trying. Every time he felt the urge to give up and he pushed on with more intensity, until his head was pounding with the desperation. His hands had stopped shaking with how tense he had become, and over and over he kept willing the skin to knit, the heart to beat…

“Please… Please…” Frank could feel tears rolling down his cheeks again, blood roaring in his ears. He was painfully aware of his own pulse, throbbing in his neck, his wrists, his fingertips…

“Frank.” Jacob’s voice came from far away, breaking into his concentration. “Frank stop.”

“No…” Frank groaned, starting to sob as he weakened. “No.”

“Stop Frank.” Jacob’s voice was more insistent, closer now. “Frank! Stop!” 

“NO!” Frank felt hands grab him and he struggled against them, but he was being dragged away from Gerard by Dayo, Patrick and Sam. “NO!”

“Let him.” Patrick’s thick irish accent whispered into his ear. “Let him.” 

Frank was confused for a second, and then he realised that Jacob had taken his place. Gerard’s eyes had closed, but Frank didn’t remember when, and Jacob was holding his hands over his wound, his whole body relaxed and calm.

“What…” Frank wasn’t sure whether to hope or not. 

“You did it Frank.” Sam spoke from behind him, still gripping his arms. “You restarted his heart.” Sam’s voice was full of disbelief, and for a moment Frank feared they were lying to him.

Jacob had noticed the second the pulse had returned in Gerard’s neck, and instinctively he had risen to take over. Frank had achieved the impossible, but in doing so he had drained all of his energy and Jacob knew he would not be able to heal the wounds and Gerard would soon be lost again.

Even though Jacob had been healing his comrades throughout the fight he had enough stamina left to finish what Frank had started. He kept himself relaxed and concentrated hard on Gerard’s wound, starting the healing near the spine and then working outwards towards his back one way, and his chest the other, closing the channel the spear had made.

Eicca steadied Gerard until the wound finally closed, turning his gaze to look at Frank and offer him a quick smile. The second Gerard’s eyes re-opened, Eicca dissolved like sugar in water, disappearing from view and causing Gerard to fall slowly backwards.

Frank felt the hands on him start to slacken and instantly he wrestled away from them, crawling through the snow towards Gerard as Jacob moved aside. 

“Gee!? Gerard!?” Frank landed on Gerard’s chest, staring in amazement as the incubus groaned and slowly moved his legs out from beneath himself to stretch the aching muscles. His eyes were screwed shut, and it was clear from his face that he was in pain, but Frank had never been happier to see him. 

“Oh God, you’re alive!” He sobbed, collapsing onto him and sobbing like his heart had broken. 

Gerard automatically wrapped his arms around him, though he wasn’t sure why he was crying, or what had really happened. He struggled to remember anything, but all he knew was that a second ago he had been fighting demons, and now he was lying where Frank had been, blood stained and aching like a bitch.

For a long while no one said anything. Jacob was smiling to himself, though he was still in shock. He was certain he had never seen anyone die and get brought back to life, yet it seemed almost fitting that it should be Frank who achieved it. 

Frank was too busy crying out all the pain and fear of the last few months into Gerard’s aching chest to think about anything, and Gerard was relieved that he was able to lie down after all the fighting. 

It wasn’t until Frank had begun to calm down that he finally managed to find his voice. 

“Did we win?” He asked softly, smiling when Frank pulled back and looked at him with bloodshot eyes. 

“You’re such an asshole.” Frank coughed through his remaining tears, making Gerard laugh before he was cut off by Frank pressing his lips to his, and kissing him like he never had before. 

Jacob looked away politely, smiling despite himself, and even Sam didn’t complain though he did turn away with a blush. 

Around them, the snow gently fell on the bloodied ground and the dawn began to break. Frank felt better than he had in a long, long time and he smiled as he lay his head down on Gerard’s chest and listened to the heart he had saved.


End file.
